Rules Are Made to Be Interpreted

Michael Hedges March 14, 2011 - Follow on Twitter

Media policies, in theory, exist to help things work smoothly. Think how difficult broadcasting would be with spectrum rules. They can, in reality, be heavy handed or, even, under-handed. Unlike the laws of physics, sometimes its best to just try again.

A majority of Members of the European Parliament (EuroParl) voted (March 10) to further condemn the government of Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban for failing to observe the spirit of their ire. A few days earlier (March 7) the Hungarian Parliament passed amendments to the country’s controversial Media Act demanded by European Commission (EC) vice president Neelie Kroes. The amendments, said the MEPs, didn’t go far enough. Hungary’s Media Act “should be suspended and urgently re-examined,” said the EuroParl resolution.

The Media Act’s provision requiring “balanced” news coverage irked the EC, the European Parliament, the Council of Europe (CoE), the Organization for Security and Cooperation Europe (OSCE) and just about every media watcher. The diversity of voices, a common thread for media watchers, would be diminished. “The legislation can still be misused to curb alternative and differing voices in Hungary despite modifications adopted following a request from the European Commission,” said OSCE media representative Dunja Mijatovic in a statement (March 8).

When amended (March 7), as cordially requested by Commissioner Kroes, “balanced” news coverage would be required only for broadcast news. The EC objected to including online media as well as a plethora of vague language. And, of course, the printed media always gets a special dispensation. After the blindingly quick negotiations in February to assuage specific European Commission concerns an equally quick trip to the European Court of Justice (ECJ) was prevented. After attending the vote at the Hungarian Parliament Commissioner Kroes said the amended Media Act is now in compliance with EC rules, which some Hungarian media interpreted as compliance of all European objectives.

“So far the European Commission and the government of Hungary did agree on the amendments that were badly needed on the proposal that was sent to parliament,” said Commissioner Kroes at a press conference following the vote at the Hungarian Parliament. “In the implementation, we still need to be quite active in monitoring what is at stake. We will give it a close look in the monitoring afterwards.”

The Media Act merged all Hungarian public media – radio, TV and the MTI news agency – under a new agency, the Media Support Trust Fund (Mediaszolgaltatas-tamogato és Vagyonkezelö Alapnal (MTVA). Earlier governments had failed to agree on reforming what was generally agreed as a bloated and badly managed public broadcasting system. The MTVA takes direction from the new Media Council, headed by the executive also leading media regulator National Media and Communications Authority (Nemzeti Média és Hírközlési Hatóság - NMHH), long time Fidesz political operative.

Consolidating various departments of the four television channels, six radio channels and an news agency has a positive ring, except perhaps for the 300 employees out of work. News production for all public media is now centralized under MTI. A common ad sales-house was formed by the MTVA. Also consolidated is the Hungarian film fund within an agency marketing the productions of Hungarian public broadcasting, all under the MTVA.

Control, of course, is the main issue for all sides. The original Media Act passed by the Hungarian Parliament exerted, to some, a shocking misunderstanding of accepted European media policy. Critics see the need to push harder still against “the central government’s direct control over the public media or the Media Council,” voiced by Hungarian MEP Csaba Tabajdi in a statement (March 10). “It has been made clear that the few changes the Hungarian Parliament made to the law on Monday are not sufficient.”

To say the media business in Hungary has suffered under Mr. Orban’s government would be an understatement. Television advertising in 2010, reported by the Hungarian Electronic Broadcasters Association (Magyar Elektronikus Müsorszolgaltatok Egyesülete – MEME) (March 8), dropped 3% from 2009 to HUF 58.3 billion. In 2008 television ad spending was HUF 71.5 billion. Ad spending on radio in 2010 was HUF 4.5 billion, down from HUF 7 billion in 2008. The MEME typically releases year-end ad spending figures each March. Radio ad spending figures for 2009 were not released; hence, the effect on ad spending of the two major national radio channel controversially losing their licenses remains a secret. Radio audience reporting was also suspended. In two years television ad spending dropped 18.5% and radio ad spending dropped 35.7%, quite atypical for Eastern Europe through that period much less Europe as a whole.

The NMHH, acting like cops with quotas for parking fines, has been aggressively doling out tickets to private sector broadcasters for all sorts of infractions. TV2 was fined HUF 9 million (March 9) for showing a program deemed unsuitable for children. They’re appealing. A tiny radio station was fined and its license threatened for playing a rap tune – in English – with graphic lyrics. That was dropped. RTL Klub was fined for product placement, illegal before the new Media Act went into force.

Reaction in Hungary to the EuroParl resolution, not simply the government, has been dismissive. “We did everything they asked,” was the conventional refrain. The European Union (EU) Presidency, concurrent with the Media Act’s enactment, was supposed to affirm Hungary’s status among European States. Instead was reaffirmation for some that Eastern Europe remained not ready for prime time.

Hungarian MEP’s aligned with the right-wing European People’s Party, itself affiliated with Mr. Orban’s Fidesz political party, snubbed the EuroParl resolution as “pressed by leftist groups,” reported State news agency MTI (March 11). European People’s Party MEPs voted against the resolution, which passed with 316 votes favoring and 264 not with 33 abstaining.

“The witch hunt continues,” said Hungary’s Communications Minister Zoltan Kovacs in a statement (March 11). “It is clearly visible that the votes did not care about the amendments adopted on Monday (March 7). From now on, those who signed the resolution can go have a debate with the European Commission.”

That would be a bit like debating Schrödinger’s Cat.

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