Thread by @panyiszabolcs

1/ In November, Hungary’s gov’t controlled media was busier than ever attacking independent journalists. These were coordinated smear campaigns in TV, print&online media. Here is a recap of how @b_novak, @erdelyip, @indexhu’s Gabor Miklosi & @floragaramvolgy were targeted. THREAD

2/ Background: Viktor Orban’s right-wing party suffered unexpected losses in Hungary’s municipal election on October 13. They’ve lost Budapest & many large cities.

Party bigwigs started blaming pollsters & especially the still too independent online media sphere for the defeat.

3/ On November 3, @b_novak & his @nytimes colleagues published an article on "how oligarchs and populists milk the EU for millions", focusing on Orban's Hungary. nytimes.com/2019/11/03/wor…

A full-frontal attack followed in Orban’s media against Novak. hirado.hu/kulfold/cikk/2…

4/ A few days later, @444hu’s @erdelyipe was scheduled to testify at the European Parliament’s LIBE Committee & gave a damning overview of Hungary’s media situation. 444.hu/2019/11/07/our…

He instantly became the next target of Orban’s propaganda media. origo.hu/itthon/2019110…

5/ In mid-November, a report by @indexhu’s Gabor Miklosi on the opening ceremony of Hungary’s largest football stadium made the journalist a target of nationalistic & anti-Semitic attacks. Gov’t pundits & politicians still haven’t finished smearing him.
hungarianspectrum.org/2019/11/24/fid…

6/ And we’re finishing November with Orban’s media empire targeting the @guardian & its reporting on Hungary's withdrawal from the Eurovision song contest. To retaliate, pro-Orban media smears @floragaramvolgy & they even dug into her private FB profile. theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2…

7/ What makes the timing of these smear campaigns against independent journalists especially interesting is that a delegation of six press freedom groups were in Budapest a few days to write a report. The Orban gov’t clearly doesn’t care about the optics. ipi.media/press-freedom-…

8/ These smear campaigns are partly aimed at scaring the targeted journalists, making their life harder so that next time they’ll think twice before publishing a critical piece on the Hungarian gov’t. These attacks are usually followed up by hateful emails, comments & trolling.

9/ The other goal is to discredit both the individual journalists & their respective outlets in the eyes of Orban’s voters so that they won’t believe reports on corruption, abuse of power, improper behavior etc. Fidesz pollsters are constantly monitoring their voters’ sentiments.