Blog

Court: MTVA must disclose spending on cancelled TV series

November 20, 2012
Hungarian Media Monitor
Blog

A Metropolitan Court in Budapest ordered the Media Services and Asset Management Fund (MTVA) to disclose how much it paid for the failed TV series “Marslakók” (“Martians”) after the watchdog group Atlatszo.hu brought the case to court on the basis of the freedom-of-information law.

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Haraszti sees threats from ‘three-layered’ media system

November 15, 2012
Hungarian Media Monitor
Blog

Hungary has developed a “three-layered” media system in which the news is provided by three main sources: state-influenced TV and radio stations, a disappearing print sector, and freely distributed online media, human rights activist and former dissident Miklós Haraszti said at the opening of a conference on the Hungarian media on November 15.

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Political weekly says public media should reveal finances

November 14, 2012
Blog

Left-leaning political weekly 168 Óra has criticized the MTVA, the body that manages Hungary's public media, for refusing to make its finances and spending publicly available, despite the outlet's requests for the information. The MTVA, which received a budget of HUF 77 billion (EUR 261 million), in 2012 said that most of the information is available on their website, and that if there was any information missing, they do not have enough staff to provide it, according to the magazine.

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Opposition pans Media Council’s 2011 report

November 14, 2012
Hungarian Media Monitor
Blog

Media Council member Tamás Kollar reportedly drew criticism from opposition MPs when he presented the Council’s annual report to Parliament on November 13. According to Mediajogfigyelő, Kollar’s presentation focused on statistics and numbers but did not cover the controversial new media law or its consequences.

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Media execs oppose censoring hate speech

November 13, 2012
Hungarian Media Monitor
Blog

Laws designed to control hate speech in the press can constrain freedom of the press, according to news directors and managers of major media who gathered to discuss the issue in a meeting of the Media Research Institute, the research arm of the Media Authority.

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