Reactions as Hungary exempts pro-govt media firm
127 views · Published 12 December 2018 · 3:50 · Indexed 6 October 2026
Channel: AP Archive · 2018 · News & Politics
(7 Dec 2018) A specialist in media politics says the creation in Hungary of a pro-government media conglomerate is an "absolutely unprecedented merger." An order signed by Prime Minister Viktor Orban and published on Wednesday in the official bulletin calls the merger affecting hundreds of broadcast, online and print publications of "national strategic importance in the public interest", exempting it from competition rules. The conglomerate will not have to be scrutinized by media or competition authorities. Peter Krausz from the Policy Agenda think tank said it was "forming a foundation which totally overwrites market conditions and greatly limits content services and diversity." Numerous Hungarian and international journalist and media associations have expressed concerns about the effects the conglomerate may have on media pluralism and press freedoms. Hargitai Miklos, President of Muosz, the National Association of Hungarian Journalists said it risks the flow of impartial information and is in the opposite of being in the public interest. "Based on written law, this media conglomerate would not pass through the filter of neither the competition authority nor the media authority," said Miklos. Last week, 10 companies donated media outlets to a foundation which, by some counts, will control nearly 480 publications and whose operations will be run by Gabor Liszkay, a publisher known for his loyalty to Orban. Most of the publications given to the Central European Press and Media Foundation were acquired or founded by allies of Prime Minister Viktor Orban in the past few years. Since Orban's return to power in 2010, international studies consider media freedoms to have steadily declined in Hungary. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter: https://twitter.com/AP_Archive Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/APArchives Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/APNews/ You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/1006593cd5c7d4f7b94f9a30b40f9309
