80 Journalists Resign From Hungary’s Leading News Site

By Stefan J. Bos, Special Correspondent Worthy News

(Worthy News) – Some 80 journalists have resigned from Hungary’s leading news website Index.hu amid mounting government pressure on independent and critical media.

The journalists stepped down Friday to protest the ouster of Chief Editor Szabolcs Dull. Management rejected their request to restore him to his position

Several thousand people took part in a solidarity march for Index that concluded late Friday with speeches outside the offices of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and President János Áder.
The website has long been a target of, Orbán, who once called it a “fake news factory.”

However, the recent acquisition of control over the news site’s advertising sales by the prime minister’s allies and attempts to control the newsroom was considered a bad omen for its independence.

“The fate of Index is ultimately decided within Fidesz, that is, the power factory around the prime minister, since by now the owners (of Index) can be found there,” political analyst Gábor Törők wrote in a Facebook website post. Fidesz is the name of Orbán’s rightwing party.

GOVERNMENT CONTROL

Over the past decade, Orbán allies have gradually taken control of both Hungary’s independent and public media. Hungary is ranked 89th out of 180 countries on the Reporters without Borders World Press Freedom Index.

“We have been saying for years that we believe there are two conditions for the independent operation of Index: there should be no external meddling into the content published on Index, or its composition and structure,” the Index journalists said.

They added that their chief editor’s dismissal is “is a clear interference into the composition of the editorial, and we cannot regard this anything else but an open attempt to exert pressure.”

It also comes after several Hungarians were detained during the coronavirus crisis for allegedly spreading fake news by criticizing government policies, Worthy News established.

However Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjártó told a news conference that his government was facing “untrue accusations” with respect to freedom of the media.

INDEPENDENCE BAROMETER

“How would the state intervene in the decisions of a media which is privately owned?,” he said when asked about Dull’s dismissal.

Index has set its so-called “independence barometer” to “in danger” to signal what it saw as outside attempts to influence its content.

It is by far the largest media organization that is critical of the government.

There were concerns late Friday that other still independent media could be next in line for government takeovers.

The move comes despite worries within the European Union about the rule-of-law and media freedom situation in Hungary, an EU member state.

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