The media empire created by the government of former Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, which served as a key pillar during his 16 years in power, is rapidly disintegrating following last month's elections that abruptly ended his rule. This was reported by Reuters, according to UNN.
Details
As the publication notes, in the weeks following the vote—where the center-right opposition led by Péter Magyar won a landslide victory—executive figures have been removed from some of the most prominent pro-Orbán media outlets, and a leading news program has been shut down.
The tone of state media changed literally overnight: even before Magyar officially took power, more opposition voices appeared there, while pro-Orbán influencers almost vanished from social media.
These are the first cracks in Orbán's tightly controlled media system, which is likely to undergo major changes under the new government that was sworn in this week.
Magyar, who called state media a "lie factory," has promised to restore press freedom, pass a new media law, and create a new media regulator.
Brussels watches the reforms
The veteran nationalist Orbán once won praise from conservatives in Europe and the U.S. as the architect of "illiberal democracy," but voters grew tired of allegations of corruption and economic stagnation.
In the April 12 elections, Magyar's Tisza party ended Orbán's 16-year rule and won the two-thirds of parliamentary seats necessary to overturn his constitutional changes.
EU leadership is closely watching Hungary as a test case for restoring democratic checks and balances—media freedom was one of the key rule-of-law issues over which Orbán's government frequently clashed with Brussels.
Under Orbán, state media increasingly fell under government control, new media laws were passed, and several private publications were either closed or transferred to pro-presidential businessmen.
Hungary dropped from 23rd place in 2010 to 74th in 2026 in the Reporters Without Borders Press Freedom Index. Orbán's government denied pressuring the media and claimed it met EU standards for press freedom.
Restructuring of pro-Orbán media
Hungary's most popular TV channel, TV2, fired its news director after the election and pulled its main news program off the air. The channel's owner, pro-Orbán businessman Miklós Vaszily, stated the program was closed due to "brand erosion."
TV2 news anchors had previously endorsed Orbán before the elections.
Last week, the editor-in-chief of the pro-Orbán news site Index was removed after the site admitted that a document it published about Magyar's alleged secret tax hike plan "was not the Tisza party's economic plan."
This fake document was a key element of Orbán's campaign against Magyar. Index did not comment on who created it.
At the same time, the Megafon group of young pro-Orbán influencers online sharply reduced the number of short videos on Facebook, according to calculations by the fact-checking site Lakmusz.hu.
"Historic opportunity" for media restructuring
After the election, the state television channel M1 quickly began to change. A study by the Republikon think tank showed that while its coverage previously mostly supported Orbán and portrayed the opposition negatively, just a week after the election, more diverse voices and more balanced coverage appeared.
This became most noticeable when Magyar was invited to state radio and television, where he clashed with journalists, asking why he had not been invited there before.
In one of his first decrees as Prime Minister on Thursday, he ordered a "comprehensive and immediate" review of state media and its funding.
However, creating truly balanced state media will be a difficult task, analysts say.
The anti-immigration campaign boosted Orbán's popularity and helped him win elections three times in a row after 2010.
Abolition of state advertising
Another pillar of Orbán's media system was KESMA—a conglomerate of nearly 500 media outlets, including all regional newspapers, created by allies in 2018.
Magyar stated he would stop the large flow of state advertising to this group and review its creation, which had been exempted from antitrust oversight.
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