The day after Hungary’s local elections in May 2019, regional newspapers across the country featured the same interview with Prime Minister Viktor Orbán on their front page. That was no coincidence – a year earlier, a holding company with close ties to Orbán’s ruling party Fidesz had taken over the regional newspapers. The media conglomerate Kesma now owns 19 regional newspapers, as well as television channels, radio stations, magazines and online portals. According to Reporters Without Borders Fidesz controls – directly or through government-affiliated entrepreneurs – around 80 percent of the Hungarian media.
European media policy: Kohl’s gift to corporations – media
