Poll: The majority of Hungarians say the press is not free in Hungary

“More than half of the four former communist counties in Central Europe are afraid that media freedom is at stake, and the majority want to protect it with government or EU measures. is.” Parents Report Regarding the results of the poll. Hungary had the highest percentage of respondents who said that domestic media should not be considered free, the British newspaper quoted an international survey.

This article was originally Release At our sister site, Ungarn Heute. Translated by Júlia Tar.

According to a survey on press freedom in Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovakia, more than half of the respondents are concerned about the state of press freedom, with the highest percentage of Hungarian respondents and their own media being free. It states that it is not. , Parents Report..

52% expressed concern about media freedom, the highest number in Poland (63%). In Poland, right-wing nationalist law and the Justice (PiS) party have been accused of pursuing independent media in expensive lawsuits and interfering with public broadcasting.

The survey, which involved 4,069 people, was conducted for 16 days in February, before the Russian invasion.

The answers were also analyzed by party preferences, with interesting results. More than half of Fides voters are not at all concerned about the situation in the Hungarian press, but the overwhelming majority of opposition voters are. This is not a characteristic of Hungary. Other V4 countries show similar trends. Voters in the ruling party are the least concerned, and voters in the opposition are the least concerned.

The survey also determined how important independent media are to people in their own country, which cannot be influenced or censored by the government. 72% of Hungarians believe that such media is needed, but this percentage is lower than in the other three countries, over 80%. But interestingly 7% of Hungarians do not think they need an independent press.

In Hungary, fewer (55%) support the idea that editorial teams should have full autonomy over what they write in newspapers. In other countries, this figure is over 70%.

It also lags behind the question of how to assess the relationship between government and the public media.

Fifty-three percent of Hungarians believe that the government should not influence how state media operates or broadcasts. This percentage is well below that of countries in the region. For example, in the Czech Republic, this figure is 80%.

According to a survey, 46% of Hungarians believe that the public media does not express or express their political views, but only 25% believe they do. This is not unique to Hungary as it is the same in Slovakia and Poland.

Interestingly, the older the press freedom in the area, the more critical it is. 39% of people over the age of 65 say they have no freedom of the press, but only 23% of people aged 18-24 agree.

Poland (55%) and Hungary (40%) even believe that the situation is worse than in other Central and Eastern European countries, and all four countries say that the issue of press freedom has worsened in the last five years. believe.

What do you believe V4 can do to protect press freedom and support independent journalism?

In all four countries, support for state tightening of law to ensure press freedom and independence is equally strong. However, they are less in favor of the government’s financial support for the media, for example through tax incentives.

Hungary, on the other hand, is the most disadvantaged country (52%) in the European Union, where the government imposes fines and sanctions on countries that obstruct the freedom of the press. In the other three countries, this percentage is 58-63%.

EU law on media freedom?

This investigation will be part of the Commission’s consultation process on the European Commission’s bill on media freedom.

The bill, led by Vice President Bella Yorober of the Commission on Values ​​and Transparency, will protect media multiplicity and independence in the face of growing concerns about potential home ownership and government intervention. I am aiming for it.

Organizers hope this will spur action.

In the 2021 Annual Report on the State of Media Freedom, Reporters Without Borders described Prime Minister Victor Orban as a major threat to press freedom. In contrast to this accusation, Viktor Orbán to demonstrate the existence of press freedom in Hungary Post A short video of his Facebook page. In the clip, you can see the Prime Minister go to a small kiosk and buy a handful of leftist newspapers and magazines that severely criticized him on their front page.

source: Parents, Man dinner, telex

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