Orbán's media empire faces shake-up as new Hungary's PM pushes reforms
Photo: Hungarian Prime Minister Péter Magyar (Getty Images)
The Hungarian party Tisza has submitted a bill to parliament proposing a sweeping reform of public media. The initiative aims to eliminate the influence of the former government and transform state-run media into independent sources of information, according to Reuters.
Hungarian Prime Minister Péter Magyar is delivering on his promises. Media reform was one of the key points of his election platform. In the April elections, Tisza won a decisive victory, ousting Viktor Orbán from power.
The old media were often called the government’s mouthpiece, but this practice will now come to an end, as Tisza holds a constitutional majority in parliament. This allows Magyar’s team to quickly repeal previous decisions that have been criticized in Europe for years.
Media decentralization and independence
The bill proposes a radical restructuring: the MTVA holding company, which currently manages all state media resources, will be split up. Radio and television will operate separately.
The MTI agency will also be reinstated. It will once again become a separate national news service, which will help prevent the concentration of influence in a single entity.
Key points of the reform:
- Creation of an independent public media committee
- Oversight of broadcasters’ finances and activities
- Introduction of a public service charter.
Parity in media governance
The government’s influence over the Hungarian press will be significantly curtailed. In the new committee, representatives of the government and the opposition will have an equal number of seats. Additionally, according to the bill, independent journalists must be included.
No one will be able to dictate editorial policy unilaterally. The Media Council will also change: its composition will become balanced.
Decisions must be made public, and rules regarding conflicts of interest will become much stricter.
The old Orbán-era officials will be a thing of the past. All current heads of public media outlets will lose their positions immediately after the law is passed.
Culture Minister Zoltán Tarr will temporarily oversee the process. However, he will not appoint his own people unilaterally: new top managers will be selected through open competitions.
What other decisions Magyar and Tisza made
The Hungarian Parliament has drastically changed its salaries. Moreover, the vote was nearly unanimous.
The Hungarian Prime Minister also announced that an agreement had been reached with Ukraine regarding the rights of the Hungarian minority, which could influence negotiations on EU accession. Magyar noted that the Ukrainian government had agreed to introduce the agreed-upon legislative changes in the near future.
Magyar also signed a decree limiting the influx of migrant workers from non-EU countries. New residence permits under the scheme for migrant workers introduced by Viktor Orbán’s previous government will no longer be issued.
