Hungary suspends public TV news and Kossuth radio to reform state media

Hungary halts public TV news and Kossuth radio as government moves to restructure state media, sparking debate over press freedom and transparency.

Hungary suspends public TV news and Kossuth radio to reform state media
Liberal TR Haber Merkezi
Publish: 07.07.2026
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Hungary’s main public television channel M1 and state-run Kossuth radio paused news broadcasts on Tuesday in Budapest, the public broadcaster MTVA announced, saying the suspension is part of reforms to make public media “independent and trustworthy”.

The interruption began Tuesday afternoon when M1 displayed a black screen message stating: “Public media should not lie. We are sorry for doing it for so long,” and added that news programmes were suspended while the service is reformed.

Kossuth’s frequencies were temporarily replaced by classical music from Bartok Radio, and websites for both M1 and Kossuth were reported down on Tuesday afternoon, according to AFP.

MTVA said M1 will restart temporarily in a new format without news programmes, then gradually reintroduce bulletins under a new editorial team.

Prime Minister Péter Magyar described the move as “the end of propaganda broadcasts” and called it a historic day, saying public media will no longer spread falsehoods.

Former prime minister Viktor Orbán criticized the change on Facebook, calling it an example of his party’s alleged tyranny and urging supporters to watch the Hir TV channel affiliated with Fidesz.

Magyar, who defeated Orbán in April after 16 years in power and vowed regime change, had previously said that allies of Orbán had controlled much of the media and prevented his appearances on state outlets until September 2024.

Days after the election, Magyar appeared on both Kossuth and M1 and confirmed plans to suspend their news coverage and establish a new broadcast authority to safeguard press freedom.

The shifts in state media follow broader media changes since Magyar took office, including departures of main news anchors and a news director at commercial broadcaster TV2, which is aligned with Fidesz.

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Liberal TR Haber Merkezi
Liberal TR Haber Merkezi
A digital news platform delivering developments in Türkiye and the world to its readers with an objective and principled perspective. Liberal TR Haber Merkezi.
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