More than 90 journalists at Hungary's state news agency MTI have called for the urgent restoration of impartial reporting after election winner Peter Magyar pledged to reform state media, according to a letter seen by Reuters.
The Hungarian, whose center-right Tisa party won a landslide victory in Sunday's election, said his government would suspend the news program of public state media until impartial reporting was ensured, as part of broader moves aimed at restoring media freedom.
Critics at home and abroad assess that the news programs of Hungarian state media have become the mouthpiece of the ruling structure under Prime Minister Viktor Orban, which, after coming to power in 2010, has gradually shaped public media to its own liking.
“Our goal is to re-establish the editorial autonomy of the national news agency,” the journalists said in a letter dated April 15. “So that we can once again decide which events we report on and how, in accordance with our own professional principles.”
The letter, first reported by the HVG portal, was addressed to Anita Altorjai, CEO of Duna Mediaszolgaltato Zrt, a state-owned holding company that brings together all state television, MTI and radio channels, as well as Daniel Papo, CEO of MTVA, in charge of content production.
The two bodies did not immediately respond to Reuters' request for comment.
The Hungarian said that his government, with a strong two-thirds majority in parliament, would adopt a new media law, establish a new media regulatory body and “create professional conditions for state media to actually do what they are supposed to do.”
“Every Hungarian deserves a public service that broadcasts the truth,” a Hungarian told state-run Kossuth Radio on Wednesday, where Orban was a guest every week, while opposition politicians rarely received an invitation.
They are expected to form a government by the middle of next month.
Observers and media analysts assess that this is a major challenge that could shape the media environment in Hungary for a long time.
“The new government has a great opportunity to begin to address the rights crisis in Hungary by restoring the rule of law and strengthening democratic institutions,” said Lydia Gall, senior researcher for Europe and Central Asia at Human Rights Watch, in a statement released this week.
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