Journalists launch crowd-funded news site as Orban allies squeeze Hungarian media

Record ID: 1579701

  • Title: Journalists launch crowd-funded news site as Orban allies squeeze Hungarian media
  • Date: 2nd October 2020
  • Summary: BUDAPEST, HUNGARY (SEPTEMBER 30, 2020) (REUTERS) DEPUTY EDITOR OF TELEX ATTILA ROVO ARRIVING AT OFFICE BY BICYCLE VARIOUS OF ROVO PARKING BICYCLE ROVO WALKING TO DOOR AND RINGING BUZZER NOTE ON PANEL FOR TELEX READING (Hungarian): "There is another one" ROVO ENTERING BUILDING / DOOR CLOSING DOOR OF NEWSROOM OPENING / JOURNALISTS VARIOUS OF JOURNALISTS WORKING
  • Embargoed: 16th October 2020 16:09
  • Keywords: Telex launch Viktor Orban former Index journalists freedom of expression in Hungary government influence over Hungary's media independent media in Hungary
  • Location: BUDAPEST, HUNGARY
  • City: BUDAPEST, HUNGARY
  • Country: Hungary
  • Topics: Fundamental Rights/Civil Liberties,Europe,Government/Politics,Editors' Choice
  • Reuters ID: LVA001CYFS6RR
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Political journalist Attila Rovo began work on Friday (October 2) at Hungary's latest experiment in independent journalism - a crowd-funded online news service called Telex.
    Operating from a small apartment near the Danube and financed solely by donations from more than 34,000 readers, Telex is an attempt to break free from what Rovo and other critics describe as growing government influence over Hungary's media via owners supportive of Prime Minister Viktor Orban.
    Rovo, 40, has worked for the state radio and three privately-owned websites over the past decade but was fired from the radio in 2011, shortly after Orban's government took control of state media.
    He quit all three websites due to what he said was state meddling that threatened his journalistic integrity.
    The last website was Index, then the largest independent news site in Hungary. Rovo's career there ended on July 24 when the staff resigned en masse over what they called an "open attempt to exert pressure" on the site after its owner sacked their editor-in-chief.
    Rovo said it felt like a frog in a pan of cold water that was "slowly being cooked".
    Telex was set up by 60-70 former Index journalists, with Rovo as its new deputy editor-in-chief.
    The European Union and pro-democracy groups have long accused Orban's nationalist government of curbing media and other freedoms, a charge it denies.
    Rovo said he had not experienced direct political interference over content at Index. But after pro-government businessman Miklos Vaszily acquired significant control over Index's funding this year, Rovo said financial pressure had increased, for example in threats to cut editorial jobs despite strong sales.
    Rovo said journalists in Hungary are free to write what they want without fear of being jailed but they needed to escape the pressures exerted by the owners of media outlets and funding channels.
    He said the government was "gradually tightening" control over private media, and but that it was difficult to see who was pressuring media outlets directly.
    (Production: Krisztina Fenyo, Lewis Macdonald)
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2020. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
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