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The media landscape in Hungary

Under the communist regime of János Kádár (1956-1988) the Hungarian media were firmly under state control. The transition to democracy was accompanied by an unparalleled pluralism in the press. Numerous new papers sprung up alongside the established dailies in the euphoria of the years of transition, only a few of which have survived however.

Two political camps crystallised during the post-communist transformation period: one around the right-wing conservative party Fidesz, and the other around the Socialist Party (MSZP), the successor to the Communist Party. The radical polarisation between Fidesz and MSZP was also reflected in the Hungarian press landscape, with much of the print media coming under the influence of one of the two political camps. Especially striking are the partisan alliances of the four national papers. While the dailies Magyar Nemzet and Magyar Hírlap are close to the conservative camp, Népszabadság and Népszava are considered "socialist".

Parlament
Foto: To Uncertainty And Beyond, Lizenz: Creative Commons by-nc-nd/2.0

Right after the transformation powerful foreign investors lost no time in entering the Hungarian market. These included Springer, Maxwell, Hersant, Bertelsmann and the Swiss media company Ringier. The latter owns the newspaper with the highest circulation, the tabloid Blikk, as well as 49 percent of the daily Népszabadság, the best-selling sports paper Nemzeti Sport and various magazines.

The political polarisation is also reflected in public broadcasting. Every change in government is accompanied by a new political line and a change of management at the state radio and television broadcasters. Private television has existed in Hungary since 1995. The private broadcasters with the highest viewing rates are RTL Klub and TV 2, both of which were established in 1997.

Online news sites are growing in importance and picking up the slack as the print media's readership declines. Currently the news portals Index and Origo have the most visitors. With the expansion of the Internet the number of Hungarian bloggers is also growing.

This country's media at euro|topics