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Media: Where is Hungary heading?Gyrgy Bolgrs contribution (Feb. 26. 2012, Brussels, Media Intergroup )

To be or not to be, that is the question as Shakespeares Hamlet would

say. Not to be, that is the answer as the Hungarian Media Authoritysays to Klubrdi. Not to be, even though we, the totally independentmedia regulators did our utmost to preserve this very important radiostation. Alas, we were not succesful and had to allocate Klubrdisfrequency to a previously unknown company that will fill the air and thelisteners ears with music. No kidding but let me explain if it really needssome explaining.

Im in an easy situation now as a senior editor and presenter of theBudapest radio station, Klubrdi. Since we had to apply for the renewalof our frequency licence and especially since it was denied from us wehave become the most famous unknown radio in the world. Klubrdiacquired a very fortunate and at the same time very unfortunate fame: ithas become the symbol of media freedom in the free world.

How could it happen and why? Klubrdi is an independently ownedcommercial talk-radio that was established ten years ago with the aim of providing public service-style programs at a time when the first Orbn-government has completely taken over and politically controlled publicradio and television in Hungary. In early 2002 we wanted to offerbalanced and objective news coverage and a mostly center-left andliberal point of view. Politics, public life, current affairs, internationalpolitics, the economy, environment, cultural topics, arts and literaturewere and since then have been on the agenda of our radio and we couldsustain ourselves as a commercial station does: with advertisements.That is: until 2010 when after the elections the new Orbn-government

has stopped all state-advertisements and state-sponsored programs withus. This, together with the financial and economic crisis made it almostimpossible for us to survive considering the fact that in Hungary thelargest advertiser is the state itself. From the National Lottery to theNational Electricity Works, the Hungarian Tourist Agency, the Post Officeor the giant energy company, Mol these institutions and companies placetheir ads almost exclusively in the right-wing, pro-government media asif only government voters could be trusted to try their fortunes in lottery.

To make matters worse our frequency licence expired in early 2011 butthe new media authority was constantly delaying the renewal process

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and was only willing to extend our licence provisionally, for small, two-months periods which made it impossible for us to sign contracts withany advertising agencies or private companies. And if it werent enough:the government has used its almost total power a two-thirds majority

in parliament to intimidate those who even among these circumstancesstill wanted to reach our listeners through advertising. The loss of advertising revenue would have amounted to a knockout if our audiencedidnt rush to Klubrdis help with individual donations. Last year wehave collected about 600 thousand euros from our listeners and thatproved to be vital for our survival.

So we somehow managed to live on until a tendering process startedlast August for the frequency we have been using. The first andforemost shock came however right away when it turned out that thenew tender for Klubrdis frequency was for a music radio that presents some local information and values , thereby excludingKlubrdi, which concentrates predominantly on national news andpolitics. Even though Klubrdi has substiantally increased its audienceduring ten years of broadcasting and it is the second most popular talk-radio station in the Budapest area after the traditionally largest publicradio the authority was not willing to alter this basic condition despiteour protest. Due to which Klubrdi was practically unable to competewith other contenders who offered much more music in their programcontent.

To make you understand the dirty trick: music has now an approximately20% share in the Klubrdis program. According to the tenderrequirements set by the Media Council an applicant who offers morethan 60% music could win the maximum awardable points. So we triedto manage a compromise: we increased the music share to 40%

eliminating some of our talk programs but even so we lost too manypoints to a completely unknown bidder who has no broadcasting pastwhatsoever. Applying with our present format of 20% music would havebeen an absolut non-starter.

Simple as it is, there was no level playing field: thats obvious but theMedia Council plays the role of an innocent bystander, a role that wastaken up by the Prime Minister as well. In a letter he sent some weeksago to US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton who warned him of the need

for media pluralism in Hungary and mentioned the fate of our radio MrOrbn answered: Although the Media Authority works independently

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from the government in Hungary I requested information about thedecision of the authority upon receiving your letter. On the basis of thislet me inform you that the competition has been conducted with fulltransparency and the Media Authority has done its utmost in order to

preserve this important news outlet: the applicant has received fullmarks on subjective criteria where deliberation was possible but theapplicant has not made a competitive financial offer. Therefore theMedia Authority could not have declared the applicant you havementioned winner without violating the theory and practice of freemarket competition.

I repeat: according to the Prime Minister the Media Authority has doneits utmost in order to preserve this important news outlet. What wouldhave happened if they had done less than their utmost? Perhaps wewould have been thrown out of the tender right at the beginning. Andwhat was their utmost? Favouring a music radio station, of course.Instead of the last talk-radio in Hungary that is independent and criticalof the government.

Now something on the financial offer as it is the final argument againstus: Klubrdis offer was somewhat more than the required minimum,about 200.000 euros for a year by the way it is two and a half timesmore than we are paying now for the licence, that is: the authorityraised the fee substiantally even though radio stations are in direfinancial straits nowadays. Anyway, the winners bid was 70.000 eurosmore, although it seems strange that a newly established company witha starting capital of 3300 euros and without any known past activitycould raise its bid above all the other contenders. Considering however,that the operation of a music radio is evidently much cheaper than thatof a talk and news radio it is clear that the media authority paved the

smoothest possible way for a new music radio and for the elimination of us.

But in the end: was it the licence fee offer that made the difference? No,not at all. The final countdown says everything about the tender: thewinners have won by one, single point while Klubrdi has lost three tothem when offering only 40% music as a talk-radio versus their 60%. If there had been a level playing field, and no difference had been madebetween music and talk-radios we would have easily won even with a

smaller licence fee offer. Well, evidently not with this government andthis, fully independent Media Authority.

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End of sad story, I would say, but perhaps still not yet. Klubrdi appliedagainst that tender decision and turned to an administrative court thatwill decide in the middle of next month whether the procedure was legal

or as according to our appeal not. To make matters morecomplicated we have another litigation going on as well because wehave already won another frequency licence back in 2010 just before theelections. At that time it became obvious that the previous media bodydidnt want to renew our used frequencys licence due to the comingelections, so we decided to apply for another, unused frequency. Wewere declared as winner but after the elections the new media authoritydeclined to sign the operating contract with Klubrdi, so we had toinitiate a lawsuit and the ruling might come or even might have cometoday in a Budapest municipal court. Anyway, we want to make radioprograms instead of starting lawsuits.To make it clear once again: Klubrdis prospective closure meansthe silencing of Hungarys only remaining independent radiostation and a significant blow to the media pluralism in thecountry. The decision was evidently politically motivated andshows the widely extended licensing power of the mediaauthority. It it werent enough, in the last months we have lost

not only our Budapest frequency but five of our affiliatedfrequencies in some provincial cities as well.

All this might seem too obvious: the government wants tosilence critical voices because it feels endangered by them. Aformally legal tendering process made it easy for them but thefollowing domestic and international uproar triggered a veryangry and characteristically Hungarian response. The pro-government media began attacking Klubrdi and its journalistswith a vengeance. We are on the front pages regularly withfabricated stories that try to prove our incompetence and lack of integrity. Can you name just one democratic country where aso-called conservative newspaper, the flagship of the governingparty regularly tries to discredit journalists from the opposingpolitical side and puts them on front page almost every otherday? While systematic discreditation of journalists and evencharacter assasination has been a well-known practice of theFidesz media in the past now they have ventured into new

territory.

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This latest attack began on February 17 when Magyar Nemzet, the mouthpiece of the current government attacked me of amiably talkingwith a caller in my radio program about "the liquidation" of President PlSchmitt. Of course the paper is not telling the truth: the caller raised the

possibility that someone might liquidate the president because hebecame inconvinient for the government and I reacted right away thatthe idea itself is absolutely unacceptable and Im not willing to speak orthink about it. However, the paper immediately moved into higher gearand phoned the office of European Commissioner Neelie Kroes inBrussels where they told her spokesman about a radio station where"death threats" are being discussed. And even that wasn't enough.Magyar Nemzet also phoned Martin Schulzs office asking what he thinksof the affair. They described all this in an article titled: "To Kroes all thatis not important." In it one can read that "Neelie Kroes, who is soworried about the freedom of the press, not long ago welcomed GyrgyBolgr in her office." In the end Magyar Nemzet had to be satisfied withreporting Klubrdi and myself to the Hungarian Media Authority, askingthem to investigate.

Frustrated they surely were because after getting nowhere in Brussels,they decided to discredit the key players. Neelie Kroes was the primetarget and soon they digged out an article in European Voice from which

they learned that the former husband of Neelie Kroes, accused his wifeof listening to fortune tellers and astrologists before making decisionsplus she rented office space in the mansion of a wealthy Dutch realestate developer, who had spent four and a half years in jail for moneylaundering and blackmail. This is the woman Magyar Nemzet wrote who welcomed in her office the owner of Klubrdi, Andrs Arat andGyrgy Bolgr while she wasn't interested in the opinion of theHungarian authorities.

Then another surprising target was found: none other than the U.S.Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. In a front-page article Magyar Nemzetheadlined: "Clinton tried to induce [Viktor Orbn] to commit a crime."The article suggests exactly thats what happened when Hillary Clintonurged the Hungarian Prime Minister to interfere in Klubrdi's frequencydispute. By the way Mrs Clinton did nothing of this sort. In a letter shehad this to say about the whole Media Law issue. "As for the Media Law,we share concerns expressed by the OSCE, Freedom House, and arecent international mission of press experts that the law concentrates

too much power in the hands of a politically-appointed Media Council. Also, the recent non-renewal of a popular talk radio station's license

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raises concerns about the commitment to ensure diverse voices in themedia realm." Thats how she induced Mr Orbn to commit a crime.Good and friendly relations with the European Union and with the UnitedStates are not as important as influencing domestic opinion with outright

lies or putting pressure on the court that is handling the case betweenKlubrdi and the Media Authority.

All this reminds one of the communist era when the official party paperinitiated attacks on some people who consequently lost their jobs orwere brought to court. I hope nothing like that would follow suit now butthe same killing instinct works., under the disguise of media freedom.

Just as in the case of the public service media. You might or might nothave heard about the scandals that shook the Hungarian media in recentmonths. A completely and intentionally falsified television report onDaniel Cohn Bendits Budapest press conference suggesting he (whodared to ciriticize the Hungarian Prime Minister in Strasbourg) escapedfrom the scene without answering an inconvinient question and somedays later the reporter (by the way a previous nobody) was appointededitor-in-chief of the public televisions current affairs programs. Or morerecently: blurring the face of the former Chief Justice from a TVreportage on the order of one of the executives. At the sam time one-

third of the employees of public television and radio was sackedincluding the best and most experienced staff who were not openly andoutspokenly pro-government and you may get to the conclusion thatpublic media is totally under the control of the government. Notfrequently mentioned but equally as important is that the independenceof the former Hungarian Radio and the two public TV companies waselimindated, all news programs are prepared in a central newsorganization in the state-owned News Agency and all the remainingreporters, journalists, editors and technical staff are employed by a

newly created organization under the auspices of the Media Authority.Total personal, organizational, political and financial control int he publicservice media: that is Hungary now.

How could we get here? How on earth was it possible?

Somewhat less than a year ago I was invited to Stockholm by theSwedish Pen Club to speak about the then relatively new Hungarianmedia law. At that time the world was watching with disbelief the debatearound the media legislation beacuse it was the most obvious sign of amassive change in Hungarian public and political life. A newly established

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media authority with only government delegated members plus theincreased role of this media body with the right to interfere in practicallyeverything and everywhere including the printed press and the internetwebsites even the blogs, all this seemed unimaginable in a member-

state of the European Union. It was the western media that discoveredthe worrying even shocking signs in Hungary but then politicians especially in the European parliament followed suit.

At that time in Stockholm however, I tried to warn my listeners that thefate of the media is just one example of many alarming changes, allproving that the new Hungarian government intends to dismantle thedemocratic system in Hungary in order to establish itself as the onlyelectable governing party for at least the next twenty years. Just tomention a few

1. Swiftly after obtaining the vast majority in parliament the governmentpushed through a statement on national peace and cooperation andmade it compulsory to hang it out on a proper place and in a properform in all government buildings and institutions. Since then Mr Orbnsgovernment was not willing to cooperate with anyone on anything.

2. When the Constitutional Court called a new tax law with retroactiveeffect unconstitutional the parliament immediately revoked the courtslicence to judge on any financial legislation. In the new constitution itspowers are severely curtailed.

3. Teh new constitution or Fundamental Law was prepared and acceptedwhithout any broad public and professional debate and with thedemonstrative absence of the parliamentary opposition. It weakensindependent institutions, centralizes power and radically cut all checks

and balances. At the same time the spirit of the whole text takes us back to the 1930s.

4. Legislation has been deeply undemocratic throughout the last one anda half year: in most cases individual MPs introduce new bills instead of the government so as to avoid otherwise legally compulsoryconsultations with interested parties, specialists, professional bodies andorganizations, like trade unions etc. and to cut short debates inparliament itself.

5. The formerly independent Fiscal Council was immediately disbanded

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after it criticised the government for trying to conceal large holes in thebudget and a new body was created under total government control.

6. Other independent institutions were also put under the control of

government appointees like the State Audit Office whose chairmanshipwas awarded to a former Fidesz politician without proper professionalbackground or the all-powerful Media Council, whose president was alsoa Fidesz member of parliament. The same goes for other very importantpositions: the Chief Public Prosecutor was also a Fidesz parliamentarycandidate, the new head of the newly created national Judicial Office isthe wife of one of the most influential Fidesz politicians and a personalfriend of the Prime Minister. Moreover these people are appointed for anexceptionally long period of 9 or 12 years and even after that theyremain in their position if the parliament is unable to elect a successorwith a two-thirds parliamentary majority.

7. A culture war has been going on against leftwing and liberal-mindedartists, filmmakers, philosophers charging them with financialimproprieties, embezzlement of state funds, effectively intimidating themto leave everything behind and escape to their small private world. Theinternationally acclaimed chief conductor, chief artistic director and balletdirector of the National Opera were forced to abandon their posts, theappointment of the new director was withdrawn through the interventionof the Prime Minister and there is a new government commisioner whoheads the National Opera reporting directly to the Prime Minister.

8. And last but not least, something, arguably the most characteristicevent of all: a quasi nongovernmental committee of overseeinggeographical names in the country was disbanded and two of itsmembers were sacked from their government jobs because they were

not willing to approve a government decision to rename BudapestFerihegy airport to Ferenc Liszt airport. The experts offered acompromise combining the two names, the original and the new but thegovernment did not tolerate any contradiction.

Can you speak or write about it Hungary? Yes, you can. Is it a proof thenthat media freedom still exists? No, not in the least. The chances of freespeech are quickly diminishing. The moment one can not tell the factsand express any opinion will only be the tragic end of a very dangerous

course Hungary has taken.(The law provides no specific guidance to the Media Council on what

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appropriate, reasonable, or lawful criteria for a tender are, and thus itallows the Media Council wide discretion in determining the criteria thatbidders must meet in order to obtain or maintain state-ownedbroadcasting frequencies.

Together, these decisions suggest an opposition to the station that goesbeyond merely economic considerations. Such a notion of institutionalbias is reinforced on reflection of the political composition of the MediaCouncil. While the Council is defined by the relevant law as a separate,autonomous institution, its members are composed entirely of Fidesz-KDNP party nominees. The current Chairperson, who concurrently sits asPresident of the National Media and Communications Authority, is aformer Fidesz party MP and a long-term confidant of the Prime Minister.

With this in mind, the apparent arbitrariness of the Councils licensingdecisions is particularly worrisome.)