On Sunday, Hungarian voters handed the governing right-wing Fidesz-KDNP alliance a landslide win and Prime Minister Viktor Orban his fourth consecutive term in office.
Some Western commentators suggest that the contest wasnt really free. They blame the conservative governments alleged control of the media. But far from being controlled by the government, the media market has grown and diversified since Orban took power. Progressives and liberals are free to express their opinions but without a complete, Soviet-style monopoly of ideas; social traditionalists, Christian Democrats, and champions of national sovereignty also have a voice, though they often dont enjoy a dominant position.
Conservative opinions are simply free to compete with liberal narratives, which may look like "government control of the media" to Western commentators who are used to silencing noncompliant voices on the Right. "Free media" likely means liberal-only media to them.
Not in Hungary.
Still, the international establishment never tires of warning that Hungarian media are under assault. To make it official, Freedom House downgraded Hungary to "partly free," though recently leaked documents showed former director of the Soros Foundation Andrej Nosko admitting that the ranking is part of a coordinated campaign against the "illiberal" Hungary and Poland. What, then, is the media market in Hungary, a country of 10 million?
According to media research, 6.8 million Hungarians turn to conservative outlets for information, 6.7 million to liberal sources, with 6 million reading both. Most major media companies across the political spectrum are profitable. It wasnt always this way. When Orban and his conservative government came to power in 2010, there were 33 left-liberal media outlets, mostly foreign-owned. Now, there are 43, mostly Hungarian-owned. There are also five new, right-leaning, anti-Orban outlets. Together, they represent 45% growth of the anti-government, politically relevant media on Orbans watch.
Is that what a government takeover of the media looks like?
All top media outlets are liberal. Out of 29 left-wing and 11 conservative online news portals, three liberal outlets 24.hu, Telex, 444 consistently rank highest in readership. There are three conservative and two liberal TV stations. As elsewhere in Europe, there is a major state-owned Hungarian television network, the MTVA ("Royal TV"), run by government appointees. The left-leaning RTL Klub TV attracts the most viewers. In radio news, five stations lean conservative, four are liberal, and one centrist. In print, there are five conservative and three liberal dailies on offer left-leaning Blikk and Nepszava have the highest readership. Among the weeklies, out of four conservative and six liberal titles, anti-government HVG and Magyar Narancs enjoy the biggest audience.
Despite the Hungarian media markets dynamic growth over the last 12 years, there have been losers, too. Before 2010, the ownership was predominantly foreign, mostly German. Following a flurry of domestic acquisitions, media companies are now 95% Hungarian-owned, although the 5% remaining in foreign hands represent one-third of the market by income and profit.
Ironically, the government-takeover-of-the-media narrative comes not from the oppressed Hungarians, but from foreign-owned outlets whose control over Hungarys media market was successfully challenged by local players after Orbans Fidesz came to power.
The result? In Hungary, you can criticize migration, Islam, or the LGBT-movement; you can question liberal pieties. And/or you can openly and loudly oppose the conservative government.
Far from taking over the media, the conservative government has liberalized media laws and helped create a more diverse news market. There are more choices. As Hungarians vote, their media landscape reflects the diversity of opinion that the West used to have when it was still a beacon of freedom, before political correctness and cancel culture destroyed the marketplace of ideas. After 44 years of communism, thats not the path we Hungarians want to follow.
Gergely Szilvay is a Hungarian journalist at Mandiner based in Budapest.
Follow this link:
Hungarian media freedom is alive and well - Washington Examiner
- Reviving The Lost Art of Forgiveness - Forbes - June 15th, 2022
- Inside Krakens Culture War Stoked by Its C.E.O. - The New York Times - June 15th, 2022
- Long Island Rep. Tom Suozzi runs as a tax-slashing centrist in bid to topple Hochul in NY governor's race - New York Daily News - June 15th, 2022
- Deep in the Heart of Beavis & Butt-Head - Texas Monthly - June 15th, 2022
- A prominent part of the Jan. 6 hearings, right-wing groups like Proud Boys seek to build a white nation - The Fayetteville Observer - June 15th, 2022
- Kelly Reilly (Yellowstone): Beth Dutton is a fearless thunderstorm of a woman and a once in a lifetime role [Exclusive Video Interview] - Gold Derby - June 15th, 2022
- We Have Become Lonely and Our Relationships Increasingly Toxic: What Has Happened to Us? - Digital Journal - June 15th, 2022
- 50 years of jokes and tricks at Waukesha's Jest For Fun Joke Shop - Greater Milwaukee Today | GMToday.com - June 15th, 2022
- Tampa Bay Rays decry 31 killed in Buffalo and Uvalde what about 40,000 in Chicago? - The Hill - June 15th, 2022
- Father of the Bride Film Review: Latino Specificity Makes This Remake Feel Like an Original - Yahoo Entertainment - June 15th, 2022
- Halftime review: Jennifer Lopez asks Hollywood for her long overdue standing ovation in rousing, effective documentary - Entertainment News ,... - June 15th, 2022
- Will the Colombian Trump win the presidency? - GZERO Media - June 15th, 2022
- Prevent and the problem of 'political correctness' - The Spectator - June 11th, 2022
- The overuse and misuse of politically incorrect speech - The Michigan Daily - June 11th, 2022
- Patriotism in 2022: Red hot anger, White rage and a blue-streak Daily Montanan - Daily Montanan - June 11th, 2022
- Voters in SF and LA voice their disgust - CalMatters - June 11th, 2022
- The Real Goal of the January 6th Committee - The National Interest Online - June 11th, 2022
- Thought Crimes: the Shameful Undemocratic Wilding of Contrary Opinion - Fair Observer - June 11th, 2022
- THE SELF-TAUGHT GARDENER: Immigration policy and the moth formerly known as gypsy - theberkshireedge.com - June 11th, 2022
- Perspective: What can we do after Uvalde? And will we do anything? - Northern Public Radio (WNIJ) - June 11th, 2022
- Bill Maher Thinks Republicans Will 'Steal' Pot Legalization - High Times - June 11th, 2022
- What the New York Times Won't Admit About California - City Watch - June 11th, 2022
- Discriminating tastes: Why academia must tackle its "race science" problem - Salon - June 11th, 2022
- John Waters on Divine, Drag Kings and Political Correctness - AnOther Magazine - June 3rd, 2022
- Ukraine, time to rise and strike! - The Riverdale Press - June 3rd, 2022
- Don of a new era: the rise of Peter Thiel as a US rightwing power player - The Guardian - June 3rd, 2022
- Russia using disinformation to stir hostility between Ukrainians and Poles, warn security services - Notes From Poland - June 3rd, 2022
- Book review: Damodar Mauzos The Wait And Other Stories feel like an oven baked snack - Art-and-culture News , Firstpost - Firstpost - June 3rd, 2022
- The Boys Season 3 Review: Preparing to Bust a Cap - Superherohype.com - June 3rd, 2022
- Why today's debates over Aurangzeb, Shivaji, Rana Pratap or Prithviraj Chauhan are not about good or bad history, but tussles over memory - The Indian... - June 3rd, 2022
- There Are No Saints - Film Threat - June 3rd, 2022
- Reaction to new name for Fort Bragg mixed among veterans, activists - Up & Coming Weekly - June 3rd, 2022
- San Diego County Sheriff's candidates share their views - The San Diego Union-Tribune - June 3rd, 2022
- Opinion | Gun Violence Is Like What Segregation Was. An Unaddressed Moral Stain. - The New York Times - June 3rd, 2022
- The growing attacks on cops and other commentary - New York Post - May 11th, 2022
- 30 Helens Agree Amazons Kids in the Hall Revival Is Hilarious: Review - Consequence - May 11th, 2022
- Parents are 'sleeping giants' who will fix American education - Fox News - May 11th, 2022
- Abortions and the pendulum - Kathimerini English Edition - May 11th, 2022
- Labour may think its moving on, but working-class voters arent following - The Guardian - May 11th, 2022
- Grace Hyland says she 'hates' being politicised as the transgender community is 'the antithesis of a political issue' - 9Honey - May 11th, 2022
- The Cathedral Vs. The Orthodox Church - The American Conservative - May 11th, 2022
- Chadar At Ajmer Sharif And Praises On Prithviraj Chauhan Cannot Go Hand-In-Hand; Chishti Blessed Ghori To Defeat Prithviraj, As Per His Biography -... - May 11th, 2022
- The Name "Indian" and Political Correctness | HuffPost ... - May 3rd, 2022
- PCU (film) - Wikipedia - May 3rd, 2022
- Reading between the lines of "1984" in 2022 | Opinion | morgancountycitizen.com - Morgan County Citizen - May 3rd, 2022
- Why 2022 is the worst year for anniversaries - TheArticle - May 3rd, 2022
- ITV DI Ray fans left divided about show but all in agreement on one thing - Birmingham Live - May 3rd, 2022
- Republicans making critical gains among Hispanic and non-White voters ahead of 2022 election - Washington Times - May 3rd, 2022
- Bell: Kenney government wants hands off old John A. - Calgary Sun - May 3rd, 2022
- Parapsychologists, sects and secret services: Remembering the most tense chess game in history - EL PAS in English - May 3rd, 2022
- Austin Powers: 10 things you didn't know about the landmark '90s comedy - Tilt Magazine - May 3rd, 2022
- Kerr: GOP's 'stokeism' is replacing substance with the surreal - Seacoastonline.com - May 3rd, 2022
- POTUS Broadway Review: The President Cant Be Held Responsible for This Mess - Yahoo Entertainment - May 3rd, 2022
- Letter To The Editor: A Response to the OpEd 3/21 The Reed College Quest - The Reed College Quest - April 15th, 2022
- Bill Maher's #Adulting and Comedians' Obsession With Haters - TIME - April 15th, 2022
- Replacing Human Rights Act will weaken protections, say peers and MPs - The Guardian - April 15th, 2022
- Elon Musk, Twitter, and the Politics of Disruption - The Bulwark - April 15th, 2022
- Slave Coin Or Freedom Coin: Which Way Western Man? - Bitcoin Magazine - April 15th, 2022
- Another Trump hate rally: The threats get worse, and polite America turns away - Salon - April 15th, 2022
- Comedy Is More Dangerous Because Of Will Smith: DL Hughley Weighs In On The Consequences Of The Slap (Video) - Radio Facts - April 15th, 2022
- Oingo Boingo little Girls Song Controversy, Meaning Of Little Girls And Still The Creepiest Music Video Of All Time? - The Current - April 15th, 2022
- Seth McFarlane's 'Ted' Series Announces Its Main Cast - We Got This Covered - April 15th, 2022
- The abortion culture and atrocity in Ukraine - The Christian Post - April 15th, 2022
- No, Russian artists have not been cancelled - The Indian Express - April 15th, 2022
- S N Balagangadhara Interview Part IV: There Is Intellectual Poverty In Islamised Regions; India May Be Headed The Same Way If It Does Not Watch Out. -... - April 15th, 2022
- The Problem with Political Correctness Life Lessons - April 9th, 2022
- Has political correctness gone too far? | The Economist - April 9th, 2022
- 'Politically Correct': The Phrase Has Gone From Wisdom To ... - April 9th, 2022
- Political Correctness Run Amok - The Post & Email - April 9th, 2022
- Is Real Time with Bill Maher new tonight, April 8? - Last Night On - April 9th, 2022
- The futility of framing one another as progressives and evangelicals, devils and dummies - Baptist News Global - April 9th, 2022
- "The Real World of College: What Higher Education Is and What It Can Be" - Public Radio Tulsa - April 9th, 2022
- Oreos Gone Woke: Is Nothing Off Limits to LGBT Left? - Daily Signal - April 9th, 2022
- Political Correctness - Munk Debates - April 6th, 2022
- Today's letters: Readers comment on the one-party system and school lunches - Daily Commercial - April 6th, 2022
- The Oral History of PCU, the Culture Wars Cult Classic - VICE - April 6th, 2022
- So-Called Cancel Culture Is a Vacant Concept, So It Can Be Turned Back Against the Culture Warriors - Justia Verdict - April 6th, 2022
- Ideology and Disunion - The American Conservative - April 6th, 2022
- PR News | Earth to Jeff: There's Trouble Brewing - Wed., Apr. 6, 2022 - O'Dwyer's PR News - April 6th, 2022
- Why does Twitter think Russian lies are OK but Trump isn't? - The Spectator - April 6th, 2022