Hungarian state tv mentioned on Tuesday its news broadcast was quickly suspended as the federal government overhauls public service media to make it “independent and credible”.
State tv’s fundamental M1 channel posted the announcement on a black display screen, displaying the message: “Public service media cannot lie. We apologise for doing this for many years nonetheless.”
Earlier on Tuesday, native media reported that some state TV and radio editors had been dismissed. Reuters couldn’t instantly confirm the reviews.
The strikes are according to Prime Minister Peter Magyar’s election promise to overtake state media and cease what he referred to as “propaganda” underneath former Prime Minister Viktor Orban.
“Public media is now being revamped, so that it can be independent and credible in the future. News broadcast is temporarily suspended. Please stay with us!” the announcement on M1 learn.
Magyar, whose celebration ousted Orban’s nationalist Fidesz celebration after 16 years in energy in an April election, has began to overtake Orban’s key bastions of energy, together with the state media. He has mentioned he’ll restore checks and balances, and clamp down on corruption.
“It’s a historic day, as the broadcast of propaganda has ended on public service media,” Magyar mentioned in a Facebook publish on Tuesday, including that state Kossuth Radio has additionally stopped broadcasting.
Magyar mentioned after the election that he wished to create “a truly balanced, objective news service.” In one in every of his first decrees as prime minister, he ordered a “comprehensive and immediate” overview of public service media and its financing.
But making a genuinely balanced public service media might be a significant problem, analysts have mentioned.
Under Orban, state media got here underneath rising authorities management as new media legal guidelines had been enacted, and a number of other personal retailers had been both shut down or taken over by pro-government businessmen.
Hungary fell to 74th place in 2026 from twenty third in 2010 in Reporters Without Borders’ press freedom index.
Orban’s authorities denied exerting strain on the media and mentioned it met EU requirements on media freedom.