Too much for others, too little for us – The draft European Media Freedom Act from a Hungarian perspective

Written by Gábor Polyák Reading the draft of the European Media Freedom Act published last September, it is clear that the European Union also wants to respond to the challenges posed by the Hungarian media situation since 2010. It can be seen as evidence that the European Commission is also aware of how unsuccessful it […]

The state of the local media market in V4 countries, with a focus on municipal media

Media market reviews tend to focus on analysing the national markets, while they often consider local markets to play a marginal role. The result is that the latter are often glossed over. Recent years have seen new expert discussions in Hungary that focus on a better understanding of the state of local discourse. This increased […]

THE CRISIS OF LOCAL JOURNALISM IN V4 COUNTRIES AND THE SPECIFIC ROLE OF MUNICIPAL NEWSPAPERS

The research paper summarizes the main findings of local media research in the V4 countries. The special focus of the research was the municipal media, but local and reginal commercial media outlets are also involved in the analysis. Contributors are Oživení, z.s (Czech Repubic) with Transparency International (Slovakia),  the Citizens Network Watchdog (Poland) and Mertek Media Monitor. […]

Putin, the man who wasn’t even there

In the following, we will summarise how the popular Krónika news show, which airs at noon every day on the public service station Kossuth Rádió, reports about Russia’s war on Ukraine. Krónika is primarily popular among elderly listeners. Since this age group is less likely to use the internet, it is especially vital to keep […]

The Hungarian government media disseminates Kremlin propaganda

The attack on Ukraine has led to a widespread outrage in Hungary. However, the deep polarisation that divides Hungarian society was also manifest in the public reactions to the war. Most people unequivocally condemn the Russian aggression and profess solidarity with Ukraine, and as the first refugees began to arrive, both civil society and the […]

Hungarian News Monitoring, 2022 Election Campaign – Part 1

Through its analyses of the campaigns of the past few years, Mérték Media Monitor wishes to help individual voters and the institutions which are invested in the successful conduct of the election in understanding whether the prevailing news coverage is balanced, as well as to help orient those who seek to be properly informed during […]

Media Landscape After A Long Storm – The Hungarian media politics since 2010 (Mertek Booklets 25)

This paper provides an overview of how the Hungarian media system hasevolved since 2010. This long decade fundamentally changed the Hungarian public sphere by the construction of the illiberal state and themove away from the democratic values of the European Union. It is particularly striking that the transformation of the media system occurred at several […]