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Hungary's Fidesz to tighten grip on public media
Source: Agencies |
December 20, 2010, Monday
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HUNGARY is expected to pass legislation today tightening the centre-right government's control over news outlets, drawing protests from media watchdogs who say the law is arbitrary and ill-defined.
The new National Media and Communications Authority (NMHH), dominated by people loyal to the ruling Fidesz party, will oversee all public news production and its powers will include levying steep fines on private media that violate the law.
Since Fidesz won an April election in a landslide, it has put its own people into key posts at autonomous public institutions such as the financial regulator and the state audit office, as well as the NMHH.
Critics have called the media law heavy-handed and arbitrary, complaining that it does not clearly lay out what news outlets have to do to comply.
"The media authority will be able to control all kinds of media outlets, not only electronic but also the printed press and the Internet," media law expert Marton Nehez-Posony said.
"It does not require a third party complaint to start a procedure, it can do it ex officio. The press will need to be extremely cautious about what it prints, what it publishes."
Besides regulatory changes, all public service news production, in television, radio and the national news agency MTI, will be merged and its contents disseminated for free.
THREAT TO DIVERSITY
Journalists said these steps will diminish news diversity and give the government's agenda an unfair advantage.
"Our correspondent in London was not allowed in to 10 Downing Street when Prime Minister Viktor Orban met David Cameron," said Akos Toth, an editor at the country's major left-leaning broadsheet Nepszabadsag. "They said: use MTI coverage. We don't want to use MTI coverage, especially now that we have seen what principles they will use in reporting."
News in public media will be produced under the watch of Csaba Belenessy, recently appointed to lead the merged newsrooms, who has said reporters must be pro-government.
"A public service media outlet should be loyal to the government and respect the opposition," Belenessy told the weekly 168 Ora earlier this month. "To accept a post and then bite the hand that feeds you is not acceptable."
The NMHH's legal director, Andras Lapsanszky, told a media forum on Friday that the government had the authority to define "public good" and enforce its values because it was elected with a majority. "One must accept that," Lapsanszky said.
Some weeklies and one daily newspaper carried blank front pages earlier this month in protest against the law. Some said the government wanted to silence dissent with prohibitive fines. The NMHH's fines can reach 25 million forints (US$120,900), enough to effectively shut down a smaller news organisation.
"This is a law you can't obey because you don't know what the regulations are. The code is not defined," said Endre Bojtar, editor in chief at liberal weekly Magyar Narancs.
Freedom House, which called Hungary's politics and media free in its 2010 report, said the media law was a major setback for press freedom in the country. "Of particular concern is the wording of the supposed violations which is very broad, creating an environment conducive to significant misuse..."
The government has said the new law is long overdue to bring outdated legislation up to date with changing technology and content. It said the law respected press freedom and was in line with those in fellow European Union countries.
"The media legislation does not transgress international law or international practices," said Zoltan Kovacs, state secretary at the Ministry of Public Administration. "I call on everyone to keep their cool."
The new National Media and Communications Authority (NMHH), dominated by people loyal to the ruling Fidesz party, will oversee all public news production and its powers will include levying steep fines on private media that violate the law.
Since Fidesz won an April election in a landslide, it has put its own people into key posts at autonomous public institutions such as the financial regulator and the state audit office, as well as the NMHH.
Critics have called the media law heavy-handed and arbitrary, complaining that it does not clearly lay out what news outlets have to do to comply.
"The media authority will be able to control all kinds of media outlets, not only electronic but also the printed press and the Internet," media law expert Marton Nehez-Posony said.
"It does not require a third party complaint to start a procedure, it can do it ex officio. The press will need to be extremely cautious about what it prints, what it publishes."
Besides regulatory changes, all public service news production, in television, radio and the national news agency MTI, will be merged and its contents disseminated for free.
THREAT TO DIVERSITY
Journalists said these steps will diminish news diversity and give the government's agenda an unfair advantage.
"Our correspondent in London was not allowed in to 10 Downing Street when Prime Minister Viktor Orban met David Cameron," said Akos Toth, an editor at the country's major left-leaning broadsheet Nepszabadsag. "They said: use MTI coverage. We don't want to use MTI coverage, especially now that we have seen what principles they will use in reporting."
News in public media will be produced under the watch of Csaba Belenessy, recently appointed to lead the merged newsrooms, who has said reporters must be pro-government.
"A public service media outlet should be loyal to the government and respect the opposition," Belenessy told the weekly 168 Ora earlier this month. "To accept a post and then bite the hand that feeds you is not acceptable."
The NMHH's legal director, Andras Lapsanszky, told a media forum on Friday that the government had the authority to define "public good" and enforce its values because it was elected with a majority. "One must accept that," Lapsanszky said.
Some weeklies and one daily newspaper carried blank front pages earlier this month in protest against the law. Some said the government wanted to silence dissent with prohibitive fines. The NMHH's fines can reach 25 million forints (US$120,900), enough to effectively shut down a smaller news organisation.
"This is a law you can't obey because you don't know what the regulations are. The code is not defined," said Endre Bojtar, editor in chief at liberal weekly Magyar Narancs.
Freedom House, which called Hungary's politics and media free in its 2010 report, said the media law was a major setback for press freedom in the country. "Of particular concern is the wording of the supposed violations which is very broad, creating an environment conducive to significant misuse..."
The government has said the new law is long overdue to bring outdated legislation up to date with changing technology and content. It said the law respected press freedom and was in line with those in fellow European Union countries.
"The media legislation does not transgress international law or international practices," said Zoltan Kovacs, state secretary at the Ministry of Public Administration. "I call on everyone to keep their cool."
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