SECTION REPORT
HUNGARY
2016
In the Spring of 2016 the Hungarian Section of the Association of European Journalists had its Electoral General Assembly, which happens every three years according to our statutes. The board and other bodies stepped down and a new board and bodies were elected by the assembly. József Martin was re-elected as president, three vice-presidents were also re-elected, namely Lívia Losonczi (former TV editor), Miklós Blahó (former Népszabadság editor, István Kulcsár (former Hungarian radio editor), two new members of our board are Melinda Kiss Katalin (print freelance) and Géza Turchányi (print freelance), and the old-new secretary József Horváth was as well unanimously elected.
Besides having regular meetings and attending conferences and debates our board focused on developing a new strategy, mainly trying to position ourselves in the changing social-political and economical environment. Hard times are coming for NGO-s, including media related organizations as well, such as ours. Staying alive is the realistic goal nowadays, conserving ourselves for the (if ever) better days, as we say. We have some good news as well to share, the long awaited homepage of ours is under construction under the supervision of one of our promising young new members, Krisztián Magyar, investigative journalist working for the weekly and online Magyar Narancs.
The latest happenings in the Hungarian media (battle) field is the suspending-closure of the largest quality nationwide daily newspaper the Népszabadság.
The Hungarian Section of the AEJ has been watching closely and with growing concern the disappearing of Népszabadság the largest selling quality daily newspaper (38 thousand circulation) in Hungary. Having strong solidarity with colleagues of Népszabadság, our Section believes that the daily’s shut down is a huge blow to media diversity in Hungary and a grave danger to media freedom. Nevertheless closing the Népszabadság, founded in the glorious days – 2nd November – of the uprising in ’56, is by far not a unique phenomenon of attempts by the Orbán-government to dominate the media market. These attempts are exactly reflecting the general features of he cabinet: strong and dynamic centralisation on a „crony capitalist” market, directed by an illiberal policy eliminating domestic checks and balances.
As regards the general media landscape in Hungary it is constantly changing and is coming under the growing influence of some wealthy oligarchs close to the Prime Minister. One of them is Mr. Andy Vajna, a Hungarian born American businessman who as Commissioner of Movie films became the owner of TV2, a large commercial channel earlier owned by a German company; the other is Mr. Árpád Habony, a close ally of the Prime Minister who founded a news portal loyal to the government and a free tabloid newspaper, called Lokál, after having shut down in June a popular and not tabloid free newspaper called Metropol, belonging to the Swedish Metro-group. A little more than one year ago a government-friendly quality newspaper was founded with low circulation called Magyar Idők. It is financed by a Hungarian media editor and business man, illustrating again that foreign media owners are in many cases leaving the Hungarian media market. A third „crony-confident”, Lőrinc Mészáros the mayor of Felcsút, Orbán’s birthplace is the new owner Mediaworks which ran earlier Népszabadság and is still publishing 12 regional newspapers and some influential tabloids, for example Bravo, very popular among teenagers. According to media experts loyal media owners and their companies are receiving the bulk of state ads: 1/5 of this sum is given to TV2 and 80 percent of the advertisement budget of government friendly Magyar Idők is coming from the state. The clear winner of state ads budget are channels of the public TV. Its programs are often openly propaganda forums with very few critical voices, oppositional politicians or experts. It is much more a state television and less a public TV. To this sad landscape belongs finally the fact that leading politicians and government institutions are often selecting among journalists and media companies according their taste directed mainly by the loyalty of the media.
The Hungarian Section is well aware of the fact that it cannot change processes, but it wants to be heard in the professional media world in Hungary, and last but not least we are absolutely in solidarity with Népszabadság’s journalists losing their jobs independently from our divers views about Népszabdság's role during the Kádár era, its big financial difficulties after the changes of 89' and about the long-lasting privatisation process during which practically all participants committed smaller or bigger mistakes.
We in the Hungarian Section, the board as well as our members want definitely the closest possible relations with the still independent, critical, in their standpoints autonomous dailies, weeklies, social media, Tv- and radio channels, and we hope that the common solidarity of the autonomous media can stop the media steamroller of Fidesz, but at the same time we are well aware of a high grade of interdependence between media and politics, their national and international processes.
Budapest, 2016 November
József Martin President, AEJ-HS
József Horváth Secretary, AEJ-HS