Hungary’s independent media — ‘A battle of the wills, but worth the struggle’

This article features in The EU's Unsung Heroes, read the full magazine here.

The Hungarian government of Viktor Orbán has been systematically undermining independent media, many of which have been pushed to the brink of closure or left struggling to survive under relentless political and economic pressure.

EUobserver spoke to various independent journalists who describe changes in the Orbán government's attitude towards the press as akin to a frog in slowly-boiling water — initially, the erosion of press freedom was gradual and subtle. Until it became unbearable, then fatal.

“As soon as Orbán came back to power in 2010 [after previously serving as prime minister from 1998 to 2002], we started to receive text messages from politicians with good advice on what not to write about,” Lukács Csaba, managing director at Magyar Hang (Hungarian Voice), recalls.

“The Magyar Hang has been an enemy in the eyes of the government from the moment it was born [seven years ago],” he tells EUobserver, who describes the outlet as the “only” independent conservative media in Hungary not aligned with government propaganda. This hostile approach has led to significant operational challenges, including printing the newspaper in Slovakia due to fears of censorship, plus frequent lawsuits and cyberattacks.

“The atmosphere is tense, and insults are becoming more frequent, especially on the internet,” Viktória Serdült, an editor at HVG and EUobserver contributor, says

Hungary ranked 67 out of 180 countries in the 2024 Reporters Without Borders World Press Freedom Index — a sharp decline from its 40th place more than a decade ago.

Independent journalists in Hungary say they are facing mounting government pressure, growing isolation, and systematic exclusion from official channels. 

“At first, the government was less and less cooperative with the independent press, but in recent years its attitude has become increasingly hostile,” says the founder and former deputy editor in chief of Telex.hu, Márton Kárpáti, pointing to recent legislative efforts aimed at curbing media outlets that receive foreign funding. Telex.hu was set up after government pressure on Index.hu led to the resignation of 90 staff members.

Kárpáti also criticises Orbán for routinely sidestepping independent media, granting no interviews and often brushing off their questions by branding them as ‘fake news’ — a label he (and his ally Donald Trump) use to delegitimise critical outlets.

“The atmosphere is tense, and insults are becoming more frequent, especially on the internet,” Viktória Serdült, an editor at HVG and EUobserver contributor, says, adding that the Budapest government has crossed some “red lines” in recent months. “Politicians are not afraid to call journalists by name, make personal comments and insult them verbally”.

For Csaba, being an independent journalist has meant being smeared as a “paedophile” or a “foreign agent”, and being accused of treason. He was put through a lie-detector test last December by Hungary’s secret service (along with the paper’s editor-in-chief and a journalist) due to an erroneous report, for which a correction was issued.

“There are many journalists who leave the profession, and those who stay often show signs of burnout,” he tells EUobserver, adding that many, including himself, feel that this might be their last job in journalism.

“Burnout in Hungarian journalism is real,” agrees Serdült, who has colleagues who left the profession to become lorry drivers or bakers. “I ask myself if I would be happier if I did the same. Then I go back to the office and realise that it is worth the struggle,” she said.

“The modus operandi of this government is economic pressure,” says Zsolt Kerner, senior editor at 24.hu

Orbán is often accused of having installed an Orwellian system in which his government controls the majority of the media landscape. But taking over control of the media wasn’t done overnight. It involved weakening of oversight bodies, such as the Constitutional Court and the Ombudsman’s office, and manipulating market resources. Take, for example, Heinrich Pecina, an Austrian businessman with Fidesz ties, who acquired major Hungarian media assets in 2014, including the opposition newspaper Népszabadság, which was then controversially shut down in 2016 after it published investigations into government corruption. But it was in 2018, with the creation of KESMA, a media conglomerate controlling over 470 outlets, when Orbán further consolidated media control in the country.

“The modus operandi of this government is economic pressure,” says Zsolt Kerner, senior editor at 24.hu, one of the biggest independent newspapers in Hungary. “‘Strawman’ owners acquire and then close down or enlist newspapers critical of the government.”

Behind the scenes, Hungary’s advertising market has also been skewed by political interference, with state funds funnelled to pro-government outlets. For example, in 2018, the pro-government broadcaster TV2 received 67 percent of state advertising in the broadcast sector, whereas the independent RTL Klub, with a similar reach, got just one percent, according to a report from the European Centre for Press and Media Freedom.

"The advertising market is completely distorted. The state is the biggest advertiser and they only advertise in what they consider to be friendly places,” explains Kárpáti, arguing that some advertisers don’t even dare advertise in independent papers for fear of being “blacklisted” by the state.

Outlets like 24.hu and Magyar Hang have shifted toward a subscription model — although they still rely heavily on advertising and sales.

In its latest rule-of-law report, among many other concerns, the European Commission noted “no progress” was made in ensuring fair state advertising in Hungary and warned that media regulators and public broadcasters remain vulnerable to political interference. 

This lack of progress is starkly reflected in the experience of journalists like Csaba, who describes journalists’ efforts as a “battle of the mills” [a Hungarian phrase meaning a battle between two powerful institutions]. “With few exceptions, investigative articles have no effect. No matter how corrupt or worn-out the ruling party is, Fidesz keeps winning elections with a two-thirds majority every time, thanks to its brutally strong propaganda and targeted discrediting of opponents, including the media and their journalists”.

Despite facing mounting challenges, many independent journalists in Hungary remain committed to truth and public service. “We can see and feel that the audience likes and needs our work,” Kárpáti says, arguing that it is journalists' mission to let people know what is happening in Hungary and in the rest of the world. “We will never give up”. Echoing this sentiment, Kerner of 24.hu says: “Good journalism has a longer lifespan than governments”.

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