According to hvg.hu, the editor-in-chief of the Index has been replaced due to a corporate conflict, changes to the editor may also affect the position of László Bodolai, Chairman of the Board.

One of Hungary’s major news portals is in trouble: Index.hu changed its freedom barometer to “Endangered” in June 2020, but the clouds gathered around one of the major players in the online media market long before. On July 22, Szabolcs Dull, the editor-in-chief, was fired, causing most of the editorial staff to stand up and then thousands protested in Budapest for freedom of the press. You can follow the fate of the Index in our article series.

Our article is updated

According to hvg.hu, Pál Szombathy, editor-in-chief of the Index, was removed from his post.

We know that all this will be confirmed in a communication soon. According to our information, changes in the newspaper and the publisher may also affect the position of László Bodolai, president of the Board of Directors, president of the Foundation.

Interested parties were sought but not reached; however, the sources of the index confirmed our knowledge. We know that the background to the conflict is an internal dispute.

A week and a half ago, Ákos Gergely Balogh, one of the newspaper’s deputy chief editors, was sent during his probation, so the dismissal did not have to be officially justified. Szombathy justified Balogh’s firing on the grounds that it had become clear in the last three months that they did not think the same about the Index and the role of the Index’s deputy editors-in-chief.

Balogh was a former communications director at Corvinus University and had previously worked as Ufi (Last Warning) in a Fidelitas newspaper, then as editor-in-chief of the Reaction that grew out of it, and then as editor of Mandiner.

The former Index ended on July 24, when virtually the entire guard rose, after László Bodolai, chairman of the board of the Hungarian Development Foundation, which owns the newspaper, fired editor-in-chief Szabolcs Dull.

The conflict escalated after Dull published an editorial in the Index on Sunday night, June 21, saying that they felt in danger of their independence and functioning and restored their barometer of freedom.

The immediate antecedent of the case was that the idea of ​​dividing the paper (the so-called Gerényi Plan) was put on the board of the board, which Bodolai later claimed was not accepted and that the independence of the newspaper was not in danger.

Although the Index’s fragmentation ultimately resulted in nothing, some sort of plan was expected to reflect the financial difficulties of CEO András Pusztay and editor-in-chief Szabolcs Dull, which they did not carry out. Pusztay resigned in June by mutual agreement, and Bodolai removed Dullt from his director.

Then a new CEO came to the company, Zsolt Ződi, who resigned a week after learning about the economic situation of the Index, and was later appointed Pál Szombathy, who later became editor-in-chief. Meanwhile, András Sztankóczy, who is now Deputy Director General and Editor-in-Chief, has also joined the Council.

The change

Lightning fell around the Index for a long time, it turned out that Lajos Simicska acquired a call option, which he played only after the break with Viktor Orbán. The end of the complicated operation was that the Index became the property of a foundation, while Indamédia, which sells advertisements, became a separate company.

Lightning bolts have been flitting down the index for years

The editor-in-chief of the Index and many dozen members of the editorial office staff feel that the independence of the newspaper is in danger, according to the director of the foundation that owns it, it is all a misunderstanding, journalists have been misled. Rumors of an “adjustment” to the Index have intensified and weakened in recent years, and it doesn’t help that the president of TV2 has recently appeared among the owners of a company that sells the newspaper’s ad space.

Miklós Vaszily, president of TV2, acquired a 50% stake.

In an interview with Portfolio.hu, Vaszily said that he sees himself as a strategic investor. When the newspaper asked him, he had long wanted to take office again, as president of TV2, “the burdens of operational management weren’t weighing on him, so it was time to think about what trends to expect.” His intention to join fulfilled the intention of József Oltyán (the former co-owner of the KDNP) to leave.

When asked if the Index could detect any changes, Vaszily mentioned that the portal itself is owned by a foundation, Indamedia Sales only sells advertising space.

The task of the leaders of the portal is to make an online media company that is pleasant for all readers, independent of all political parties, and that is the largest, that is the expectation towards them.

Vasily said.

It is no coincidence that they also entrusted the grinding of the Index to the stroma of Mészáros

Miklós Vaszily became one of the ancient discoverers of Zoltán Spéder. The accelerated economist has accompanied the media transformations of the last ten years from Origo through MTVA to TV2. Now they have been assigned another task in the NER: he will try to direct the Pesti TV, designated for the role of the official drums, with the money of Lőrinc Mészáros.

(In our linked image, Szombathy, in the middle, and Bodolai, on the right, still convince the old indexes.)


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