Hungarian public media outlets halt broadcasting in post-Orbán shake-up | Hungary

In Hungary, public media outlets close to Viktor Orbán have suspended broadcasting, the country’s prime minister said, while welcoming efforts to remove the longtime nationalist leader’s control over information.

Péter Magyar, who ousted Orbn in a landslide election victory in April, wrote on Facebook: “It’s a historic day. Today marks the end of propaganda broadcasts on public media platforms. They lied at night, they lied during the day, they lied on every wavelength. It’s over.”

Tight control over the media was a pillar of Orbán’s 16-year rule; During this period, Orbán transformed the Central European country into a self-styled “illiberal” democracy, bringing it into conflict with EU norms.

Kossuth radio station and Hungary’s main public television channel M1 had stopped broadcasting on Tuesday afternoon, with M1 displaying the following message: “Public media should not lie. We are sorry we have done this for so long.”

“Public media will now be reorganized to be independent and reliable. Our news program is currently suspended. Stay tuned!” added to a black screen.

Agence France-Presse journalists reported that Kossuth radio’s frequencies were broadcasting Béla Bartók’s classical music program, while M1 and Kossuth’s websites were closed.

According to the statement made by Hungary’s state media umbrella group MTVA, M1 television will continue broadcasting in the evening without a news program.

Other public service programs will not be affected by the changes.

“Another example of Tisza cruelty!” Orbán posted on social media, suggesting that viewers “interested in the truth” should instead watch Hír TV, a channel affiliated with the Fidesz party.

Magyar’s Tisza party won elections in April and won a two-thirds majority in parliament on the promise of “regime change”, marking a clear break with the Orbán era.

Magyar said after the election that he wanted to create “a truly balanced, objective news service.” In one of his first decrees as prime minister, he ordered a “comprehensive and urgent” review of public service media and funding.

Tuesday’s suspension of the broadcasters came shortly after the Magyar government changed management of state television and radio.

In addition to public media, the new administration also targeted private media outlets owned by businessmen affiliated with Orbán. At TV2, one of Hungary’s top private broadcasters, the main news anchors have been replaced and the news director has been sacked since Magyar’s election victory.

Orbán and Fidesz, who came to power in 2010, systematically turned the state media into a mouthpiece of the government; They have weaponized the media to promote themselves and their allies while smearing supposed enemies like philanthropist George Soros and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Hungary fell from 23rd place in 2010 to 74th place in 2026 in Reporters Without Borders’ press freedom index; because the government’s efforts have left much of the country in a parallel information reality.

During the election campaign, state media demonized Magyar as a puppet of Brussels, an absent father and a traitor. As a candidate, he vowed to suspend coverage in state media, describing it as a “factory of lies” whose coverage resembled propaganda from North Korea and Nazi-era Germany.

Under Orbán, an estimated 80% of the media landscape was controlled by Fidesz loyalists, including state media and private broadcasters. They were opposed to the embattled independent media, whose journalists nevertheless uncovered scandal after scandal.

Some of Fidesz’s private media companies are expected to remain popular and survive after the change of government, analysts said. But their influence may be limited by greater competition, and their editorial lines may evolve with a change of government.

Agence France-Presse and Reuters contributed to this report