The Tisza parliamentary faction has submitted its legislative proposal for the complete overhaul of the Hungarian public media system, Prime Minister Péter Magyar of Hungary has announced in a Facebook post.
Under former Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, Hungary’s public media outlets—particularly the flagship news channel M1—were frequently accused by critics of strong political bias in favour of the ruling Fidesz party. PM Magyar has been among those critics. Referencing the accusations of bias in his Facebook post, he wrote: ‘Actual public media instead of propaganda’.
The proposed legislation would amend the Media Services and Mass Communication Act, effectively dismantling the public media framework established after 2010, the Hungarian news site 24.hu reports. Although the bill requires a two-thirds parliamentary supermajority, the Tisza Party has enough MPs to pass it without any opposition votes.
One of the proposal’s key elements is the abolition of the Foundation for Public Service Media, which would be replaced by a newly created Independent Public Media Board. The new body would exercise ownership rights over Hungary’s public media companies.
The board would consist of nine members. Parliamentary groups would nominate six members—three from the governing parties and three from the opposition—while media professional organizations would select the remaining three. Political nominees would serve four-year terms, while professional nominees would serve for five years.
The legislation would also bar individuals from serving on the board if, within the five years preceding their nomination, they held party office, ran as party candidates, served as party delegates, or engaged in party political activities in any other capacity.
In addition, the proposal would merge Duna Médiaszolgáltató Nonprofit Zrt and MTVA, the entitites responsible for public media services, and for the asset management, production, and financing of Hungary’s public broadcasting system, respectively. The two companies would be combined into a new organization named Magyar Rádió és Televízió Nonprofit Zrt.
Shortly after securing a landslide election victory, Prime Minister-elect Magyar of the Tisza Party gave a fiery interview on M1 in which he vowed to suspend the channel’s public news programming on his first day in office. He ultimately did not follow through on that plan. However, the newly proposed legislation suggests that his government remains committed to carrying out a comprehensive and systematic overhaul of Hungary’s public media system.
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