Targeted subsidies – data on the digital switchover campaign
Mérték Médiaelemző MűhelyThe digital switchover campaign has been ongoing for months. Using data that has become available thus far, we have analysed the channels that the authorities use to inform the affected households, and hence also the question of what media outlets benefit from the state’s spending of billions of forints. Based on the numbers available to […]
The advertisement tax and Hungarian media policy
Mérték Médiaelemző MűhelyIt is widely known that the media industry has faced growing hardships over the past decade: the internet and its concomitant, free content, has already emerged as serious challenges, but it was the economic crisis beginning in 2008 that rendered the situation truly dramatic. Today, we can assert that the media market’s current functioning is […]
Opinion on ’The Report of the High Level Group on Media Freedom and Pluralism: A free and pluralistic media to sustain European democracy’
Mérték Médiaelemző MűhelyThe signatories of this letter of consultation are specialized civil organisations with a long history of commitment to the freedoms of speech and press and extensive professional experience in this area. Said organizations were very pleased that, partly in response to the situation of the Hungarian media, the European Commission has set up the working […]
Letter of Hungarian NGOs on Media Legislation to Mr. Thorbjørn Jagland, Secretary General, Council of Europe
Mérték Médiaelemző MűhelyMr. Thorbjørn Jagland Secretary General Council of Europe 4 February 2013, Budapest Esteemed Council of Europe, Dear Secretary General, Hungarian NGOs for protection of human rights, freedom of speech and freedom of press express their concern about the prospects of the Hungarian media regulation. The agreement between the Council of Europe and […]
The big publicity shake-up
Mérték Médiaelemző MűhelyThe total overhaul of media regulations has served as a sort of dress rehearsal for the power techniques of the Fidesz-KDNP government. The process has involved the complete removal of checks and balances from the institutional system, along with the cementing of trusted party cadres in place. More importantly, it has also entailed the domestication […]
Report on the content regulation in the practice of the Media Council (Part 2)
Mérték Médiaelemző MűhelyThe following study is based on the examination of official resolutions passed by the media authority during the period of May to October, 2012, and is compatible in its structure and themes with the first report prepared by Mertek. General findings As in the previous period, the media authority’s application of the law is characterized […]
Report on the frequency tendering by the Media Council (Part 2)
Mérték Médiaelemző MűhelyFor this Report, Mertek looked at the frequency bids evaluated by the Media Council between the end of 2011 and Fall 2012, primarily through decisions and documents disclosed by the Media Council to the public. During the period, the Media Council conducted a total of 58 tenders, of which 20 concluded without a result. On […]
What makes news? — The prospects of being informed
Mérték Médiaelemző Műhely“RTL 2 is airing real news!” — exclaimed a Standards staff member, providing a vivid illustration of the state of public affairs reporting in Hungary today. News on television is either irrelevant to public affairs or, when it is not, it is little more than sheer government propaganda. If a commercial station wants to buck […]
The fabric of democracy: Media freedom and media awareness
Mérték Médiaelemző MűhelyThe freedom of the media is more than just a matter of regulation. It also boils down to how much importance people attribute to free press, whether the demand for objective, diverse, and accurate information comes from the broad masses rather than small groups of society, and how we think about the role and mission […]