Hungary’s Public Broadcasters Go Dark to Launch Historic Media Reform

For 16 years under Viktor Orbán, Hungary’s public service media disseminated disinformation on a scale unmatched anywhere in the European Union. No other EU public broadcaster has propagated lies, hate speech, and state propaganda with such systematic intensity in recent decades.

Some output echoed the fascist, antisemitic agitation of the interwar period; other segments mirrored the narratives of Russian state media. Typical themes included criminalized depictions of Arab and African migrants threatening Hungarian women, a Jewish-Hungarian billionaire allegedly undermining the nation’s Christian identity, the EU supposedly indoctrinating children with “LGBTQ propaganda,” and a Ukrainian “mafia state” portrayed as sacrificing Hungarian youth in war while robbing pensioners.

Starting a New Chapter

That era has now ended.

At 4:00 p.m. on Tuesday, the news channel M1 cut its feed to a black screen bearing a direct message: “Public media should not lie. We are sorry for doing it for so long. Public media will now be reformed so they will be independent and trustworthy. Our news service is currently suspended. Stay tuned!”

Every news bulletin and political program across Hungary’s public television and radio networks was replaced by this identical apology and announcement. Only the website of the MTI news agency, also part of the MTVA public media holding, continued posting political news.

‘They Lied at Night; They Lied During the Day’

The moment marks a watershed for Hungary. Nothing comparable has occurred at the state broadcaster — not even during the 1989–90 transition from communist dictatorship to democracy.

“A historic day. Today marks the end of propaganda broadcasts on public media platforms,” Prime Minister Péter Magyar posted on Facebook. “They lied at night, they lied during the day, they lied on every wavelength. That is now over.”

The shift extends beyond a symbolic black screen. M1’s most senior figures have been removed, including director Zsolt Németh — nicknamed “Pitbull” for his aggressively confrontational style — along with most programming directors and senior news editors.

Symbolic Timing for Relaunch

Just under four hours later, M1 resumed broadcasting at precisely 7:56 p.m. The timing (19:56 CET) was deliberate, evoking the 1956 anti-communist, anti-Soviet uprising crushed by Soviet troops.

The first program aired was equally symbolic: The Witness, a 1979 Hungarian classic satirizing the horrors of Stalinism and its absurd propaganda machine. The black-screen apology remains visible on the website of Hiradó, M1’s flagship news program.

Fulfilling an Election Promise

Radical reform of the public media system was a centerpiece of Magyar’s campaign ahead of the April 12 election. Even after his Tisza Party’s landslide victory, he attacked the broadcasters almost daily as a “factory of lies” — with ample justification.

The story of how Orbán reshaped Hungary’s public media — and much of the private sector — into government mouthpieces stands as one of the darkest chapters of his rule. Shortly after his 2010 victory, Orbán’s government rewrote media laws, created the National Media and Infocommunications Authority (NMHH), and stacked regulatory bodies with loyalists. Public media were centralized under the MTVA holding company.

By 2011, most independent journalists had been dismissed or forced out.

No Balanced Reporting

From that point, “public service media” became a label in name only. MTVA outlets degenerated into a mantra-like amplifier of Orbán’s propaganda. News and political programs relentlessly attacked the EU, philanthropist George Soros, civil society groups, and independent journalists.

Despite a legal obligation to provide balanced coverage, opposition politicians and independent voices virtually vanished from MTVA channels. After Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the rhetoric intensified further. In a stark inversion of victim and aggressor, MTVA constructed a parallel reality portraying Ukraine as an evil empire, at times retransmitting Russian state propaganda unfiltered.

Orbán and Hungary’s Private Media

Orbán pursued a parallel strategy with private media. Government-aligned oligarchs acquired independent outlets, either forcing them into line or shuttering them — as with the left-liberal daily Népszabadság in 2016.

On November 28, 2018, Orbán-linked businessmen “donated” their media assets to the newly created Central European Press and Media Foundation (KESMA) — a collective “gift” involving no payment or consideration. In total, over 476 broadcast, print, and online outlets were transferred to KESMA, encompassing nearly the entire pro-government private media sector.

What Happens Next?

A transitional director was appointed at MTVA last week, the MTVA holding company last week. On Tuesday, that director named an interim leadership team for the M1 news channel.

MTVA stated that permanent leadership roles would be filled through a public selection process conducted in consultation with social and professional organizations. Independent journalists have welcomed the changes but demand genuine participation in the reform process and await further details.

The plan envisions a restructured supervisory board with three representatives each from the government majority, the parliamentary opposition, and independent journalists’ associations.

Orbán protested the restructuring on Facebook, calling it “a new step in the Tisza Party’s tyranny.”

Criticism also came from opposition lawmaker Balázs Németh — ironically, a former Hiradó anchor complicit in many of the program’s most notorious episodes. After M1’s screen went black, he posted: “Hungarian democracy is dead.”

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