Hungarian Parliament adopts media law, effectively abolishing current public media

The Hungarian Parliament has passed the amendment to the media law by a vote of 145 in favor, 39 against, and no abstentions—that is, with the support of the Tisza Party and Mi Hazánk, and with the opposition of Fidesz-KDNP. The media law submitted by the Tisza government seeks to dismantle the system that allowed the Fidesz-KDNP administration to use the country’s public media to spread its propaganda. The main points of the amended media law are as follows:

• The terms of office of the members of the Media Council of the National Media and News Communications Authority (NMHH), as well as the members of the board of trustees of the Public Service Foundation, and the current senior executives of Duna Media Services and the Media Services Support and Asset Management Fund (MTVA) will be terminated.
• Duna Media Service, which functions as the publisher of public media, and MTVA, which has produced content for the public broadcaster, will be dissolved. Instead, the organization will be split into two companies: Hungarian Radio and Television Nonprofit Ltd. and the Hungarian News Agency Nonprofit Ltd.
• The professionally best-qualified leaders will be selected to head the Media Council and the public media via an open competition.
• The Independent Public Media Board will be established to oversee the independence and financial management of public media. This body will also be responsible for approving contracts of large value. The body will consist of three members nominated by the ruling party and three by the opposition parties, each for a four-year term, while three members will be nominated by professional associations of the media sector for a five-year term.
• Another body to be established is the Press Fund, which will be managed by the NMHH. The task of the Press Fund will be to support various independent media outlets.

The proposal on reforming the media law was submitted by representatives of the Tisza Party on June 12. During the parliamentary debate on the proposal, Tisza Party MPs criticized the public media by comparing its functioning to North Korean and Russian editorial practices, while actor and Tisza MP Ervin Nagy read out the names of artists and public figures who, he claimed, had been blacklisted by the public media under Fidesz. Fidesz politicians (including Balázs Németh, who had previously worked in the public media) defended the service—arguing, among other things, that it provided more than just news coverage and that people liked its programs.

Fidesz also criticized the media law proposed by Tisza because its development was not preceded by public consultation, and the Hungarian National Media Association—made up of Fidesz-affiliated papers—pointed out the same. “The restructuring of public media cannot take place without consulting the public, under temporary ministerial control, with uncertain labor laws, and without sufficient time to prepare,” they wrote. In response to a question from Média1, Ilona Kocsi, president of the National Association of Hungarian Journalists (MÚOSZ), wrote that for the independence of public media to be guaranteed, there would not only be professional stakeholders, but they would have to be in the majority.

Judit Grósz, the ministerial commissioner responsible for the restructuring of the public media service responded to the criticism on LinkedIn by saying that the legislative amendment currently being drafted is a swift and necessary institutional step, and that public and professional consultations will be launched shortly; she also promised further consultations in the fall, before a comprehensive amendment of the media law follows.

One of Péter Magyar’s key campaign promises was that, after winning the election, they would suspend the news coverage of the public media until the conditions for objective, impartial reporting could be guaranteed. However, no such drastic measures ended up being taken following the Tisza Party’s election victory. In the two days immediately following the election, it seemed that the editorial tone of M1’s news programs suddenly changed, but this was only because the leadership responsible for political content had disappeared for a few days. By the time Péter Magyar was invited to speak there on the Wednesday following the election, however, the tone of MTVA’s news programs had returned to its previous style. In the interviews he gave there, the prime minister promised to “shut down this lie factory.” As he was leaving the building, several employees applauded Magyar, who told them to hold on until the new leadership is appointed.

In mid-May, the government announced that it would conduct a comprehensive review of the public media service, and the Parliament's Finance and Budget Committee rejected its budgetary proposal. In early June, Dániel Papp resigned from his position as CEO of MTVA; according to the official statement, because the newly elected government is restructuring public media.

Previously, our explainer video examined the kind of questions the former PM was asked at the public radio service under the Orbán government, and we also reported on the leaked documents which showed how Orbán’s circle dictated the news at the state news agency.