Juggling The Media Complicated For The Untrained

Michael Hedges August 13, 2018 Follow on Twitter

There are many reasons media and political spheres should remain at arms length. Experience and interests differ plus they certainly do not speak the same language. Politicians of all stripes long for power over message while media people tend toward keeping their jobs with clever messaging. Forcing them together requires a new talent: juggling.

Lajos Simicska finally parted ways with his television channel Hir TV (News TV). He also “transferred” his entire asset portfolio, including the giant Kozgep construction company, to former business partner Zsolt Nyerges. Details of the exchange remain unclear, very common in Hungary, except that Mr. Simicska is on the outs with prime minister Viktor Orban and the right-wing populist Fidesz political party. Mr. Nyerges is with the in-crowd. There has been considerable shuffling of Hungarian publishers and broadcasters over the past decade. Most, but not all, foreign owners have exited.

Until early 2015 Mr. Simicska was Fidesz party treasurer and ardent supporter of Mr. Orban. The estrangement became legendary in Hungary, referred to as G-nap (G-day), as Mr. Simicska very publicly broke with the party and Mr. Orban over an advertising revenue tax meant to punish market-leading television broadcaster RTL Klub, owned by RTL Group. G-nap refers to a particular Hungarian epithet used by Mr. Simicska in several media interviews to describe Mr. Orban.

At that moment Mr. Simicska’s media holdings – Hir TV, daily newspaper Magyar Nimzet, weekly political newspaper Heti Válasz and radio station Lanchid Radio – took on editorial positions critical of the Orban government and the Fidesz party. Pro-government operatives within the respective operations were dismissed. Mr. Simicska added well-known news portal Index.hu to the media portfolio. After the April 2018 parliamentary elections solidified Mr. Orban’s position, Magyar Nimzet abruptly closed, Heti Válasz became a digital-only publication and Lanchid Radio became a music-only channel. Last year Mr. Simicska ceded ownership of index.hu and several digital-only portals to the not-for-profit Magyar Fejlodésért Alapítványnak (Hungarian Development Foundation), which he founded, protecting them somewhat from the political backlash.

The transfer of Hir TV and the dormant assets to Mr. Nyerges had been widely rumored through July and finally confirmed August 1st. Mr. Nyerges called together the Hir TV staff with “media advisor” Gabor Liszkay and new deputy general manager Peter Szikszai to announce the new direction. Some changes were already obvious as well-known news anchors Olga Kalman and Sandor Csintalan were dismissed earlier that day.

“The tone of the programs and the editorial principles will be as before,” explained Mr. Szikszai to pro-government daily Nepsava (August 4). “And, of course, those who appear on the screen… will be those who conform to the right. The first sign of this is that those who did not fit in were not here.” Between seven and ten other news department workers were subsequently fired.

Well-known in media circles, Gabor Liszkay is chief executive of publisher Mediaworks Hungary, managing director of pro-government daily Magyar Idok and chief executive of radio station Karc FM. Mediaworks Hungary was acquired by Lorinc Mészáros, “an important ally of Prime Minister Viktor Orban,” observed Reuters (March 3, 2017), in a series of transactions in 2016 and 2017. He is also mayor of Mr. Orban’s hometown, Felcsut, in north-central Hungary, and a Fidesz party official. Separately, he owns Echo TV, managed by Beatrix Kelemen Meszaros, his wife.

Mediaworks Hungary publishes several national and regional/local newspapers, magazines and associated websites. Magyar Idok is owned by Mr. Liszkay. Rumors abound, via 24.hu (August 7) and others, of Magyar Idok’s imminent rebranding as Magyar Nimzet, the shuttered newspaper once published by Mr. Simicska. Budapest radio station Krac FM is also owned by Mr. Liszkay. The chief editor of it and Magyar Idok is Otto Gajdics, once chief editor of Lanchid Radio before his termination upon Mr. Simicska’s acquisition of the station.

New management at Hir TV, news operations in particular, has been brought in, largely, from Echo TV. And several had previously worked at Hir TV before being dismissed by Mr. Simicska in 2015. “Several sources have said the new leadership is driven by vengeance,” reported zoom.hu (August 2). Echo TV is also relocating to the facilities occupied by Hir TV, fueling the expectation that the stations will soon merge, perhaps with Echo TV disappearing, as Mr. Mészáros becomes the suspected eventual owner.

For now Hir TV and Echo TV staff are “cooperating,” said Peter Szikszai, quoted by 444.hu (August 9). “In the next few months they will find out what will be their way. For Hir TV short-term goals have been set for the time being; maintaining operations, streamlining the news.” “This takeover by Fidesz allies is yet further confirmation of the government’s determination to control the media,” observed international press freedom monitor Reporters sans Frontieres (RSF) (August 3). “The authorities are increasingly curbing the independence of the press and its ability to fulfil its role as democracy’s watchdog.”

True to form, the Fidesz party, in a statement, then accused RSF of being “a (George) Soros organization,” reported 444.hu (August 4). “It is working with Soros’ money, part of the Soros immigrant network. So again, the immigrant network of Soros tries to get into Hungarian media and Hungarian politics.” PM Orban and other Fidesz party officials have long railed against Hungarian-American philanthropist George Soros with debunked conspiracy theories and questionable legislation. During the last parliamentary elections, the party ran on a “Stop Soros” platform.

Apart from RTL Klub and daily tabloid Blikk, owned by Ringier Axel Springer, the vast majority of Hungary’s traditional media is controlled by Fidesz party loyalists and supporters of Mr. Orban. And those are now competing with each other for the various spoils, creating something of a headache for the government. Antal Rogan, the government’s chief of communication (read: head of propaganda), is reportedly not inclined to have the reorganized Hir TV compete with TV2, the government’s favorite TV channel, owned by a different Fidesz-supporting rich guy.

News portal Index.hu, considered close to Mr. Simicska, referred to the whole matter as “a circus.”

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