The foreign press was filled with Club Radio

The National Media and Communications Authority (NMHH) announced on Friday that the Media Council decided not to extend Club Media’s right to media services, so that Club Radio will remain silent on February 14, 2021. The Media Council launches a tender for 92.9 MHz. The authority justified the measure by claiming that during the seven years of operation of Klubrádió it violated the provisions of the Media Law on several occasions, for which the Media Council applied various legal consequences. In accordance with the relevant provision of the Media Law, the reason preventing the renewal of the right to provide media services is that the media service provider has repeatedly or seriously violated the provisions of the Media Law during its operation, it added. NMHH in your notice of the decision.

Why did the use of frequencies have to be withdrawn?

The blog Media1 asked about these violations, to which the authority stated that it had committed a total of 6 violations during the 7 years of Klubrádió’s media service. Klubrádió was fined in 2014 and 2015, then twice in 2016 and twice in 2017. (Details can be found here.)

The repeated specific violation that justified the withdrawal of the Radio Club frequency was that the provider of the social networking service (according to information from Media1, due to a technical problem with an old broadcasting system) violated the obligation to report monthly, and a similar it happened in 2017. Club Radio has not been fined since then, Media1 notes.

In response to the decision, Richárd Stock, CEO of Klubrádió Zrt., Told Média1 that “the media authority was actually looking for an excuse to silence the last free and independent voice.” Richard Stock added, however, that they are seeking legal and other remedies to ensure that Club Radio continues to operate after its February 2021 right to media service expires.

According to Agyelő, Klubrádió has not yet received the decision on the refusal to extend the right to media service. After studying it next week, they will decide what steps they will take to keep their radio afloat.

The foreign press was filled with the matter

After the decision, Klubrádió was covered by several foreign newspapers, which were reviewed by Népszava. HE Reuters According to thez The International Press Institute hopes that the Union will intervene in the Club Radio affair. The second person from the organization recalled in Vienna that Brussels constantly emphasizes the importance of freedom of the press and fair competition in the market, but has so far failed to guarantee these values ​​in Hungary.

The license revocation raises concerns about media independence because Club Radio has approximately 200,000 students and opposition politicians and talk show guests rarely criticize power. The transmitter is now forced to compete for its current frequency, but if it loses, it can only continue to work on the Internet. However, the Media Council did not disclose the violations on which it based its decision. (The reason may have come to light after the Reuters – ed. Article was published.)

The news agency noted that it had so far tried unsuccessfully to persuade Orban to make changes to the media, courts, education and regulation of non-governmental organizations, which Brussels said undermined democracy.

A Washington Post According to the Commissioner for Human Rights of the Council of Europe, Dunja Mijatovich is also concerned about the decision affecting radio. Mijatovic, who previously was in charge of press freedom in the OSCE, said the need to maintain the diversity of the media in democracies. According to Népszava, the report emphasizes that the press freedom situation was one of the main reasons why the EU pursues the rule of law against Hungary.

This includes the fact that the government only provides state advertisements to its compliant bodies, and that approximately 500 editorial offices have been condensed under the auspices of KESMA while the foundation is under government control. Additionally, members of the Media Council were appointed by one of Orbán’s cabinets, and the board has made many dubious decisions over the years. At the same time, it did not do enough to protect the various media and the fair and open market conditions in the press.

A Mirror the decision on the restriction of press freedom announces the decision on Klubrádió, that is, the newspaper continues to press against critical media. The German weekly also notes that the public media have become mouthpieces for power for about 10 years, and the vast majority of privately owned bodies have recently joined a foundation near Orbán. The largest independent news portal, the Index, was cold in July due to a “foreign takeover”, and People’s Freedom was targeted for being bought or shut down first by the Prime Minister’s Austrian man, Der Spiegel on the list.

A Le Figaro He emphasized, among other things, that the Media Council, in line with the OSCE and Freedom House, agreed that it would help the government control the press. In 10 years, the country has dropped from 23rd to 89th in Reporters Without Borders’ media freedom ranking, and the Hungarian broadcast of Radio Free Europe has renewed its operations this week after 36 years because it believes the situation of the Press in Hungary has deteriorated dramatically.

Club Radio is one of the most listened to radio stations, but it is regularly excluded from state advertising. The French newspaper recalls that four years ago the court awarded the radio 300 thousand euros in compensation because the National Media Authority denied it the right to permanent broadcasting. However, rural wavelengths have not been received by radio since. The opposition assessed that the government was already attacking the forces against it again. Katalin Cseh posted on Twitter that every day is a severe blow to media pluralism.