Thread by @panyiszabolcs

1/ Damning new report on the state of Hungarian media by @globalfreemedia @EFJEUROPE @RSF_en @ECPMF @article19org @pressfreedom is out today. "International coalition warns of spread of Orbán's illiberal media model across region”. Some findings (THREAD):
ipi.media/new-report-hun…

2/ "Journalists working for independent media are publicly vilified, including on pro-government media, as opposition political activists, foreign agents, traitors or even as “Hungary-haters” or “non-Hungarians”, as in the recent case of an anti-Semitic smear campaign...

3/ “...The claim that independent journalists are 'political activists' was repeated by the Hungarian government’s spokesperson."

"Independent journalists are subject to pervasive discrimination by the state when it comes to access to information."

4/ "Female journalists note that gender is used as an additional excuse to diminish their critical work. Some also highlighted gender-based online harassment and reported receiving rape threats following reporting on sensitive topics."

5/ "The mission arrived in Hungary just as an anti-Semitic smear campaign was underway against two journalists (...) over an article in which one of the journalists admitted that he did not stand when a nationalistic song was played at a stadium inauguration..."

6/ “...The attack and the subsequent claim by the government spokesperson to paint it as a deliberate provocation by the “left-wing” media, which reported the case, symbolize the state of independent media in Hungary today."

7/ "Media ownership is heavily concentrated in the hands of the government...” It "maintains a veil of media pluralism by citing the few independent media outlets that exist and pointing out – misleadingly – that some of these media remain market leaders (though only barely)."

8/ "Independent research shows that nearly 80% of the market for political and public affairs news is “financed by sources decided by the ruling party”. (...) Pro-gov"t media have a quasi-monopoly in the daily print media & radio sectors and are dominant overall in the TV sector"

9/ "Numerous experts suggested that the govt’s strategy is to allow just enough independent media to claim the existence of a free press – following the Putin model – while insulating a large part of the population (particularly those outside of cities) from critical narratives"

10/ "The government’s deliberate media concentration plan reached a provisional apex last year when pro-government investors “donated” 467 media outlets (...) to the Central European Press and Media Foundation (KESMA), which is under effective government control. "