Listen to the audio version of this article (generated by AI).
Listen to the audio version of this article (generated by AI).
A message displayed on M1 and public media news site Hirado.hu said: “Public media must not lie. We apologize for doing so for so many years. Public media is now undergoing a transformation to ensure it becomes independent and credible. News coverage is temporarily suspended. Stay tuned!”
State news wire MTI reported that M1 and Kossuth Radio had both been taken off air. Kossuth Radio’s frequency temporarily began carrying Bartók Radio programming.
“A historic day. Today, propaganda broadcasting on Hungary’s public media has finally come to an end,” Magyar said in a Facebook post.
“They lied by night. They lied by day. They lied on every channel. That ends now,” he added.
In a later post, the prime minister said M1 would return symbolically at 7:56 p.m., 70 years after the 1956 Hungarian Revolution. The channel will initially broadcast films only, without news programming.
The press office of the Media Services Support and Asset Management Fund (MTVA) said M1’s screens had gone black after interim CEO András Horváth and his team “immediately halted propaganda and suspended news broadcasts across all public media platforms.”
The message currently displayed on M1 and Hirado.hu
According to MTVA, M1, which began broadcasting in 1957, had previously shown a black screen only during technical problems or periods of national mourning, including after the death of József Antall, Hungary’s first democratically elected prime minister, in 1993.
“Once again, the black screen symbolizes the end of an era,” MTVA said.
“In recent years, public media fell under political influence, losing its primary function: providing the public with credible and objective information. Instead, it became a forum for incitement and lies. That changes now.”
M1 is expected to relaunch temporarily in its new format at 7:56 p.m., carrying films but no news coverage.
MTVA also announced a series of interim management appointments during the transition.
Zsófia Mészáros will be responsible for the online directorate, Balázs Bodacz for the news directorate and György Kerényi for the management of Kossuth Radio.
Péter Koltai will take over the CEO’s cabinet, while Sára Teszáry will lead the PR and marketing department and serve as spokesperson.
The abrupt suspension of news programming marks an extraordinary break in Hungary’s public media operations and follows years of political controversy over the independence and editorial role of state-funded broadcasters.
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