The state broadcaster abruptly halted news shows, admitting it ‘became a platform for spreading hatred and lies’ under Viktor Orban’s previous government and vowing to change.
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Since the Fidesz party came to power in 2010, the state media has effectively acted as a government mouthpiece, featuring pro-government ‘experts’ promoting conspiracy theories while openly fuelling hostility towards the EU, Ukraine and opposition parties.
But as the election results started rolling in on April 12, the main news channel M1 began transforming into a more neutral outlet, broadcasting more balanced news, and citing independent outlets and politicians from the victorious Tisza party.
It even aired Magyar’s first international press conference live and invited the incoming PM for back-to-back interviews on state radio and television, resulting in a tense exchange.
Magyar accused the service of spreading lies and serving government propaganda for years, and of targeting him personally. The journalists defended themselves, saying they were “only doing their job” and pressed Magyar combatively.
Media experts highlighted how Orban never faced the kind of critical or even hostile questioning that Magyar encountered in his first interview.
“What was really striking is that, after April 12, the public media immediately switched to a more neutral news service. That shows that they were fully aware that what they had been doing before was unacceptable,” Polyak recalled. “They could have done it very differently, yet they chose to serve the government”.
He hopes the new media law will provide the basis for a more balanced public broadcaster. “This is a rather generous regulation, which would allow both government and opposition to present their views.”
“But I believe public media should go further than pure news service, and embrace more topics from consumer protection to education, to serve the broader public,” he said.
Ada Petrichko contributed reporting to this article from Warsaw.
