In a bold move that shocked the nation, Hungary’s new chief of government, Péter Magyar, stopped the news feed on the country’s flagship public TV channel (M1) and paused its main radio station (Kossuth). The shut‑down was announced on a blank screen that flashed a black‑and‑white apology: “Public media should not lie. We are sorry for doing it for so long.”
The change came after a long period of tight state‑media control by former prime minister Viktor Orbán, who ruled Hungary for 16 years. With the new administration’s promise to overhaul media, an official of MTVA, the channel’s operator, said the station would restart in a new format that would lazily re‑introduce bulletins and bring in a fresh editorial team.
Magyar hailed the move as “a historic day” that ends “propaganda broadcasts.” He framed it as a turning point that would make Hungarian media independent and trustworthy, while Orbán called the reforms “another example of Tisza tyranny” and encouraged his followers to watch the Fidesz‑affiliated Hir TV instead.
The cease‑fire also meant that the usual news anchors and directors of Kossuth, as well as top figures in the commercial TV2 network, stepped down, showing the ripple effects of the new PM’s mandate. Meanwhile, the European Union praised Hungary’s “wind of change” and has already opened a substantial grant to help rebuild the country’s public service media.
