Hungary media overhaul leaves news off air, jobs cut

Hungary's state media remains without its main TV news broadcasts a month after broadcaster MTVA suspended them, while private media companies are also cutting jobs and print editions during a wider post-Orban media shake-up.

Reorganising state media was a key campaign pledge for pro-EU Prime Minister Peter Magyar, who defeated Viktor Orban in April's elections after 16 years of Orban rule.

MTVA's main channels suspended news broadcasts on July 7, two weeks after parliament passed a media reform bill. In an on-air message, the broadcaster apologised for years of “lying”. Camera crews are still recording newsworthy events, but the footage is being archived rather than broadcast.

Several insiders expect TV news broadcasting to return on August 20, Hungary's national holiday, but interim management appointed by the government has not set out detailed plans. Judit Grosz, the ministerial commissioner overseeing the transition, said “serious and longstanding” problems with credibility and professional standards made the shutdown necessary.

Private media have also been hit by the change in administration. Mediaworks, which describes itself as Hungary's leading conservative media company and is close to Orban's Fidesz party, said in June it would fire 200 of its 2,000 staff. AFP reported that it no longer receives the government advertising spending it had under the previous administration.

More than a dozen Mediaworks daily newspapers have either stopped printing or moved to weekly publication, including flagship outlet Magyar Nemzet this month. Independent rival Nepszava also ended its print edition in late May because of debt owed to Mediaworks, which printed the newspaper.

The MTVA transition has already caused controversy. The broadcaster named a new head of news programming who had previously worked for outlets and companies owned by Orban's inner circle, then reversed the appointment the next day after criticism, including from Magyar.

Pavol Szalai, regional director at Reporters Without Borders, told AFP that the test of renewal would be whether public media “dares to criticise Magyar's government on a factual basis”. Grosz denied government interference, saying MTVA's interim leadership is responsible for personnel and operational decisions.