Hungary’s new state media leadership has abruptly pulled the plug on the main news channel M1 and flagship radio station Kossuth, promising they will return to air in a reformed format after years of being used as a “platform for hate and lies” by the former political establishment.
The public service broadcasters, which the newly appointed management admits had fallen entirely under political control and lost their core function of truthful and objective reporting, will soon resume operations under a radically different editorial model, the Media Service Support and Asset Management Fund (MTVA) announced on Tuesday.
For several hours, screens went black on M1, replaced only by a stark message declaring that “public television cannot lie.” The channel’s new leadership said the overhaul is designed to ensure the broadcaster finally becomes “independent and trustworthy.”
Prime Minister Péter Magyar, reacting on social media platform X, hailed the moment as a watershed. “A historic day. The propaganda activity in Hungarian state media has finally come to an end today. They lied at night. They lied during the day. They lied on every channel. It is all over now,” he wrote.
The unprecedented blackout marks a dramatic turning point for a media landscape long criticised by international watchdogs for systemic bias. According to the MTVA press office, the outlets had been transformed into a “tribune for inciting hatred and falsehoods” rather than serving the public interest.
According to updated television schedules, M1 is expected to resume broadcasting at 07:56 p.m. local time, though initially without its regular news bulletins. Kossuth Radio’s frequency is temporarily relaying programming from Bartók Radio, the state classical music service. Other state media outlets continue to operate normally during the transition.
