Árpád Szakács has just published the twelfth installment of a series of articles in the Magyar Idők government daily entitled “Whose cultural dictatorship?”. His series aims to highlight how Hungarian public institutions and agencies are still often willing to fund cultural projects that are spearheaded by artists, authors or thinkers not associated with the ruling party or those who are […]
Heti Válasz, the conservative weekly magazine established by Fidesz in 2001 using public funds, announced that it is suspending its print edition effective immediately. Since 2015, Fidesz politicians and Hungarian civil servants have been prohibited from giving interviews to Heti Válasz, as the publication assumed a more critical tone in relation to the Orbán government after owner Lajos Simicska’s falling […]
The author of this essay is a former journalist of Lánchíd Rádió, the conservative radio station that closed days after the April election, along with the Magyar Nemzet daily. The author, a former supporter of Fidesz and Viktor Orbán, contacted us this week and asked the Hungarian Free Press to use the pseudonym “blahalujza”when we publish this piece, as revealing […]
Jeppe Bjerre Trans is a Danish journalism student, finishing off his Bachelor degree at the Danish School of Media and Journalism in June. He was in Hungary in the beginning of April to report on the elections in the country, as part of his studies at the International Europe in the World program – a journalism program focusing on European politics. […]
This interview with Hungarian political philosopher G.M. Tamás first appeared in The Dissident Blog–a publication of the Swedish PEN. Mr. Tamás offered us this interview to share with readers of the Hungarian Free Press. The philosopher explains why freedom of speech and democracy are in decline in Hungary and also speaks about how Budapest is a type of intellectual bubble […]
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) published its Press Freedom Index for 2018 and it lists the state of media freedom in Hungary as being “problematic.” Romania, Slovakia and the Czech Republic are deemed to have a healthier free press than Hungary. Out of 180 countries, Hungary is number 73–falling back two place since last year in its global score. RSF writes: […]
Attila Chikán, the Minister of the Economy during the initial years of the first Orbán government (1998-2002), broke down in tears on live television Thursday night. He was one of hundreds of mostly private Hungarian citizens who were listed in the Figyelő propaganda weekly as being “mercenaries of Soros.” Barely 11 years ago, on the nineteenth anniversary of Fidesz, Viktor Orbán […]
Hungary’s largest circulation national daily newspaper, Magyar Nemzet, announced that it is ceasing publication–both in print and online. A few hours later we learned that a 26 year old politician whose mother happens to be Viktor Orbán’s ally and historian, has the millions of euros at his disposal, through a family inheritance, needed to buy the country’s main daily newspaper, […]
Gergely Dudás, the former editor-in-chief of Index, one of Hungary’s main online news sites, has launched an experiment that will test whether there is enough civic engagement in Hungary to build a high quality, independent news publication purely through community support. The site, Politis.hu, sounds a lot like a Hungarian version of Politico: it will focus on domestic political reporting […]
This is a case study of Hungary’s government sponsored “mob journalism.” Within weeks the celebrated mayor László Bogdán, Hungary’s successful Roma leader, has become an enemy of the people. David Kostelancik, the top U.S. diplomat in Hungary has raised concerns about disappearing independent media outlets. He has said that the remaining independent media “face pressure and intimidation.” “Government allies have […]
