Challenges The Media Faces In Hungary

Trust in media, fake news, and government misinformation--we’ve heard a lot about these issues in the U-S over the last few years.

But we’re not alone.

In Hungary, independent media is facing challenges from the government of conservative Prime Minister Viktor Orban. Public broadcasters are accused of censorship, while Orban’s allies have bought up private media companies.

In Serbia, independent media struggles to be heard and believed among pro-government source that dominate mainstream media. 

GPB’s Rickey Bevington is visiting both countries to learn about the challenges facing media.

She joins us via Skype from Belgrade, Serbia.

BRADLEY GEORGE: What’s situation today with Hungarian news media?

RICKEY BEVINGTON: The government and friends of the government control the majority of news media outlets across the country.

I’ll let the numbers speak for themselves.

Since 2010, fourteen oligarchs allied with Fidesz have bought 11 radio stations, 20 tv stations and nearly 500 news websites. This would be like a Democratic or Republican President coming into office and his or her strongest and richest party loyalists buy NBC, ABC, CBS, The New York Times, the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, plus nearly every major local newspaper, TV and radio station.

On top of that, in 2011 the Fidesz-led Parliament put all state-run media under a council whose members are appointed by ruling party members.

So all of these news organizations are being run as political mouthpieces. Here’s how two whistleblowers from MTVA described it to Al Jazeera.

I will note that no one at any of these organizations agreed to meet with me.

GEORGE: What do Orban and his allies have to say about this?

BEVINGTON: The main talking points of the Orban government, and by extension the mainstream news media are that the nation needs to protect itself from migrants, from Muslims, from the European Union and from foreign philanthropists trying to support liberal democracy in Hungary, people like George Soros. 

GEORGE: Are there independent news sources?

BEVINGTON: Definitely. Their audiences are significantly smaller and centered in Budapest and smaller cities. They are under increasing pressure from the government. 

I met with a journalist for 444.hu, which is like a combination of Vice News, BuzzFeed News and Vox. He says the government sues them 2-3 times per week, which ties up money and time. They have some private philanthropy backing them and are testing out crowdfunding.

I met with another journalist at an investigative news site whose name translates to Transparent. She says 52 percent of their revenue comes from readers who donate.

The lack of independent news media has captured the attention of the U.S. government. Just a few months ago, the State Department announced it would make 700,000 dollars in grants available to independent journalists and outlets in Hungary. Those are expected to be announced in the spring.  

GEORGE: What are you learning on the ground that is surprising you most?

BEVINGTON: The biggest surprise came from meetings with Fidesz party members who say winning elections gives them the right to manipulate mainstream media to their political interests.

I met with the Prime Minister’s Spokesman and the head of a Fidesz party think tank that essentially creates the policies of the Orban government. He told me it’s in keeping with Europe’s history of news sources having a known political agenda. Hungarian news consumers, they say, are smart enough to choose their news. That’s easy to say when you and your political allies control almost all of the news media in the country.

GEORGE: Do people know what the government is up to?

BEVINGTON: Yes and no. I met with a group of high school students in Budapest. One young man said he figured out the news was propaganda when he heard the exact same phrasing in several stations. Another said he uses an app on his phone that gives him options to read multiple articles about the same story. He said it taught him that mainstream Hungarian news stories could be opposite to what other sources report.

But Hungarians outside the cities have more traditional media habits, they aren’t using the Internet for their news, and they really do trust what they see and hear on the television and radio stations.

There’s not only a digital divide, there’s also a generational divide. The leader of the Hungarian Civil Liberties Union told me older Hungarians who grew up under Communism have an attitude that the government’s always going to be corrupt and that if they leave the government alone the government will leave them alone.  

GEORGE: What’s next for you?

BEVINGTON: I’m speaking to you from Belgrade, where I will be spending this week having meetings with journalists, politicians, academics, NGO’s learning about how the news media works in Serbia. Serbia is working to join the EU in the next decade and so will have to meet EU standards of free press and free speech. So we’ll see how they’re doing.