Opposition media network envisaged
February 14th, 2020A left-wing columnist fears that opposition parties intend to exercise control over independent outlets.
In an interview with Népszava on Tuesday, Péter Márki-Zay, the Mayor of Hódmezővásárhely said opposition-led cities intend to set up an independent news service with local media outlets owned by the city councils exchanging reports, videos and articles to counter the pro-government media.
On Mérce, Nóra Diószegi-Horváth writes that the authorities have no business in and around the independent media. She has no problems with news exchanges among media outlets owned by local authorities, but they should not carry propaganda, even if of an anti-government nature, because they are financed from taxpayers’ money. Otherwise, she explains, they would not be any better than the national public media Mr Márki-Zay so fiercely criticizes. She also recalls that after his victory in the mayoral elections in October last year, Márki-Zay complained about ‘disparaging’ reports in the independent media about opposition politicians, although, she adds, that’s what makes a media outlet independent. Any news outlet operated by the authorities is by definition not independent, Diószegi-Horváth writes.