Edge Rewrite
restyle Source code View original
// HTMLRewriter · presentation

This page was redesigned at the edge.

Cloudflare fetched the original article and streamed it through HTMLRewriter to apply an entirely new visual system without rebuilding the source page.

Jump to content

Médiaszolgáltatás-támogató és Vagyonkezelő Alap

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(Redirected from Duna World)

Médiaszolgáltatás-támogató és Vagyonkezelő Alap
TypeState-owned corporation
IndustryMass media
Predecessor
Founded1 January 2011; 15 years ago (2011-01-01)
Defunct26 July 2026; 4 days ago (2026-07-26)
Successor
Headquarters
Budapest
,
Hungary
Area served
Hungary
ServicesTelevision, radio, online
OwnerGovernment of Hungary
Websitemtva.hu

Médiaszolgáltatás-támogató és Vagyonkezelő Alap (MTVA) (lit. 'Media Services and Support Trust Fund') was a Hungarian fund company owned and financed by the Hungarian state, through the National Media and Infocommunications Authority (NMHH). MTVA was established on 1 January 2011, and from July 2015 the company's main task has been to finance and operate Duna Média, Hungary's state public company. It was an active member of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU).

MTVA dissolved on 26 July 2026 after a bill proposing the restructuring of Hungary's public service broadcasters was approved by the National Assembly of Hungary. MTVA and Duna Média were replaced by the newly established Magyar Rádió és Televízió (lit. 'Hungarian Radio and Television') and the reinstated Magyar Távirati Iroda (lit. 'Hungarian Telegraph Office').

History

[edit source]

Background

[edit source]

MTVA brought together four public media companies in Hungary: Magyar Rádió (MR), Magyar Televízió (MTV), Duna Televízió (Duna TV) and Magyar Távirati Iroda (MTI). At the same time, MTI was given the exclusive right to produce news content for the public broadcasters.[1][2][3] According to Hungarian politicians, the establishment of MTVA helped clean up the country's "dysfunctional public broadcasting sector". However, the media reform received criticism from foreign politicians and media experts, who believed the reform limited the independence of broadcasters and gave the government greater control over the country's public broadcasters.[4]

The four broadcasters continued as four divisions under MTVA, but were merged into a one-joint broadcasting company named Duna Média on 1 July 2015. This nonprofit organization was the legal successor to each of the four formerly separate entities managed by the MTVA.[5] The Duna TV channel become the main generalist channel, replacing the first Magyar Televízió channel M1, the oldest in Hungary, which changed its format/genre and assumed continuous broadcast of news related programming.[6]

Among other things, MTVA was responsible for distributing funds and resources to the various departments in Duna Média. Most employees of Duna Média were also employed through MTVA. According to the National Assembly, MTVA aimed to have a relationship with its British counterpart, BBC.[7]

Criticism

[edit source]

A 2019 report by the European Federation of Journalists stated that news coverage of the Hungarian public broadcaster was not balanced, opposition politicians' viewpoints were nearly absent from the reports, and there was a lack of transparency over the funding and work of MTVA. The report concluded that the "public service media have been deformed into state media."[8][unreliable source?] Moreover, MTVA withdrew its participation from the EBU's Eurovision Song Contest amid a rise in anti-LGBTQ+ sentiment among the leadership of Hungary and MTVA; while no official reason for the withdrawal was given by the broadcaster, an inside source speaking with the website Index.hu speculated that the contest was considered "too gay" for MTVA to participate.[9]

Dissolution

[edit source]

Following the Tisza Party winning a landslide victory in the 2026 parliamentary election, Péter Magyar became the Prime Minister of Hungary, ending Fidesz's 16-year period under Viktor Orbán. According to a report by Reporters Without Borders,[10] where Hungary had ranked 74th out of 180 countries in their 2026 index, MTVA had become a "propaganda machine" as a result of "political and economic manoeuvres and the buyout of media outlets by oligarchs with close ties to Fidesz", which gave Orbán's party an estimated 80% control of Hungary's entire media landscape.[11] While prime minister-elect, Magyar criticised MTVA and its leadership. He stated that he would shut down MTVA and reform Hungary's public broadcasting system, liking it to "North Korean-style propaganda" during a live on-air interview on the channel's news programme, M1, which was also his first appearance on the national broadcaster in 18 months.[12]

On 5 June 2026, Dániel Papp, the chief executive and director of MTVA, announced his resignation from the broadcaster, citing the government's plans to restructure the broadcaster as his reasons for leaving.[13]

On 12 June 2026, three TISZA MPs submitted a bill to the Hungarian Parliament "on the complete transformation of public media", which would amend the Act on Media Services and Mass Communication, which passed in late 2010 to create MTVA under the Second Orbán Government.[14] The bill reformed the structure of Hungary's public service broadcaster by replacing MTVA and Duna Média with two new organisations, which includes the creation of the Hungarian Television and Radio broadcaster (Magyar Rádió és Televízió), as well as the reinstatement of MTI as an independent entity.[15]

The Independent Public Media Council was established to oversee the system and. The Press Fund was set up to support independent journalism through grants.[16][17] Hungarian Television and Radio had previously operated under a single institutional framework from 1957 until its dissolution in 1974, after which the radio and television broadcasters ran as independent organisations until the creation of Duna Média in June 2015.

On 23 June 2026, the bill passed with 145 votes in favour and 39 against, with new executives for both organisations set to be selected through open competitions instead of direct appointments.[18] The amendment was enacted on 27 June.[19]

As the successor to both MTVA and Duna Média, the new Hungarian Television and Radio broadcaster is responsible for public-service radio, television, audiovisual, digital and programme production activities. As the national news agency, MTI's role within the new public service media system includes providing news reports, written and video coverage, photographs, background materials, graphics and documentary data on domestic and international events, and operates on a separate budget structure.[20][21]

Services

[edit source]
The logos of the radio and TV stations funded by MTVA

Its activities included radio, television, news agencies and online services as listed below:

Radio

[edit source]

Television

[edit source]
  • Duna: Duna Media's main generalist channel for television.
  • Duna World: international channel which caters to Hungarians abroad
  • M1: broadcasts news, debates and current affairs programming.
  • M2: children channel
  • M2 Petőfi [hu]: channel for young people
  • M4 Sport: Sports channel established in July 2015
  • M4 Sport+ [hu]: Sports channel established in September 2020 which caters to Hungarians abroad
  • M5: culture and educational programming
  • M3: broadcasts, movies and historical programs, taken from the archives of Magyar Televízió and Duna TV. As a TV channel, it closed down on 30 April 2019 and launched as an online service the following day.
  • M3D [hu]: The first 3D television channel between 25 June 2012 and 13 August.
  • MTVA Info [hu]: News channel about the digital television transition between 4 April 2013 and 31 January 2014.
  • M4K: A channel which was announced but never launched. It would have broadcast Ultra HD programs.
  • M6: A channel which was announced but never launched. The channel was planned as a regional channel of Budapest.

News agency

[edit source]

Internet

[edit source]
Hirado.hu logo (2016)
  • Hirado.hu – A popular news portal related to the news program of the same name
  • Mediaklikk.hu – Official MTVA website
  • M4sport.hu – Official site of M4 Sport
  • Petofilive.hu – Official site of Petőfi Rádió and M2 Petőfi
  • Teletext.hu – Teletext service

Controversies

[edit source]

In 2011, MTVA's news editor Dániel Papp manipulated a news segment about politician Daniel Cohn-Bendit to make it look like he fled the scene without an answer after being questioned on accusations of child abuse. Subsequently, uncut footage showed that Cohn-Bendit replied to the reporter's questions and denied the accusations. Papp was later promoted.[22] In the same year, Zoltán Lomnici, the former president of the Supreme Court was blurred out from a report about a press conference he was co-hosting. The censoring of Lomnici was suggested to be politically motivated.[23][24]

In 2019, a leaked audio recording made during the run-up to European Parliament elections showed a senior MTVA editor, Balázs Bende, informing reporters that the institution does not favor the opposition's list and the reporters should work accordingly. Bende instructed the reporters to produce content using the "appropriate" narrative and methodology, especially on topics like Brussels and migrants.[25][26]

See also

[edit source]

References

[edit source]
  1. ↑ "Hungarian public service media companies merge". Media Akademia (in Hungarian). Archived from the original on 22 December 2015. Retrieved 23 August 2015. The merger ensures that the companies do not terminate their operation without having a legal successor.
  2. ↑ "Duna Médiaszolgáltató Zrt. elnevezéssel egyesül a négy közszolgálati médiaszolgáltató" [Original press release of MTVA on the merger] (in Hungarian). Archived from the original on 9 December 2018. Retrieved 8 December 2018.
  3. ↑ Polyák, Gábor (22 January 2015). "Hungary: New Amendment to the Media Act". Mérték Média Monitor. Archived from the original on 6 December 2017. Retrieved 4 December 2018.
  4. ↑ "Media Law in Hungary: CMCS". medialaws.ceu.hu. Archived from the original on 29 May 2014.
  5. ↑ Polyák, Gábor; Nagy, Krisztina (January 2015). Hungarian Media Law (PDF). Budapest: Mérték Media Monitor Nonprofit Ltd. p. 30. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 23 August 2015.
  6. ↑ "Duna Médiaszolgáltató Zártkörűen Működő Nonprofit Részvénytársaság elnevezéssel egyesül a négy közszolgálati médiaszolgáltató" (in Hungarian). MTVA. 1 July 2015. Archived from the original on 6 October 2016. Retrieved 23 June 2022.
  7. ↑ Mészáros, Juli (4 October 2021). "BBC-osztályú higgadt elemzés a közmédiában: Karácsony Gergely egy "álmatagságát millió dolláros bölcsészmosollyal kompenzáló óriáslajhár"". 444 (in Hungarian). Retrieved 23 June 2022.
  8. ↑ "New report: Hungary dismantles media freedom and pluralism". European Federation of Journalists. 3 December 2019. Retrieved 9 January 2022.
  9. ↑ Walker, Shaun; Garamvolgyi, Flora (27 November 2019). "Hungary pulls out of Eurovision amid rise in anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric". The Guardian.
  10. ↑ "Hungary - RSF". Reporters Without Borders. Archived from the original on 21 June 2026.
  11. ↑ Spike, Justin (31 July 2024). "How Hungary's Orbán uses control of the media to escape scrutiny and keep the public in the dark". Associated Press.
  12. ↑ Zsiros, Sandor (15 April 2026). "Magyar vows to shut down Hungarian state TV accusing it of 'North Korean' propaganda". Euronews.
  13. ↑ Scheffer, Joakim (5 June 2026). "MTVA CEO resigns over planned media transformation". Hungarian Conservative.
  14. ↑ Chastand, Jean-Baptiste (17 June 2026). "Hungarian media landscape upended after Viktor Orban's fall from power". Le Monde.
  15. ↑ ""2026. évi XXI. törvény a médiaszolgáltatásokról és a tömegkommunikációról szóló 2010. évi CLXXXV. törvény, valamint az Országgyűlésről szóló 2012. évi XXXVI. törvény módosításáról"" ["Act XXI of 2026 on the amendment of Act CLXXXV of 2010 on Media Services and Mass Communication and Act XXXVI of 2012 on the Parliament"]. Nemzeti Jogszabálytár (in Hungarian). 27 June 2026.
  16. ↑ Farren, Neil (3 July 2026). "Hungary: Hungarian Government Votes to Dissolve MTVA". Eurovoix.
  17. ↑ "Vége az MTVA-nak, a teljes közmédia átalakul: jön a Sajtóalap és a Független Közmédia Testület" [The end of MTVA, the entire public media is being transformed: the Press Fund and the Independent Public Media Board are coming]. 444.hu (in Hungarian).
  18. ↑ "Elfogadta a parlament a médiatörvényt, amivel felszámolják a jelenlegi közmédiát" [Parliament has passed the media law, which will eliminate the current public media]. Telex.hu (in Hungarian).
  19. ↑ "MAGYAR KÖZLÖNY • 2026. évi 80. szám". Magyarkozlony.hu (in Hungarian). 26 June 2026. Retrieved 30 June 2026.
  20. ↑ "Parliament approves sweeping public broadcasting reform". The Budapest Times. 23 June 2026.
  21. ↑ Szalay, Zoltan (3 July 2026). "For Hungary, it is an earthquake: public-service media will not be one-sided, Orbán's Fidesz empire is falling apart". EUobserver.
  22. ↑ Tóth, Csaba (27 November 2014). "Court finds MTVA head of news programming forged the news". The Budapest Beacon. Retrieved 9 January 2022.
  23. ↑ "Hungary: airbrushing row highlights media law failings". Index on Censorship. 13 December 2021. Retrieved 9 January 2022.
  24. ↑ Thorpe, Nick (29 December 2021). "Hunger strikers defiant in Hungary media protest". BBC News. BBC. Retrieved 9 January 2022.
  25. ↑ "RFE/RL Probe Finds Journalists At Hungarian State Broadcaster Instructed On News Coverage". Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. 13 November 2020. Retrieved 12 February 2022.
  26. ↑ Balogh, Eva S. (14 November 2020). "Orbán's propagandists at work at the "public" television station". Hungarian Spectrum. Archived from the original on 14 November 2020. Retrieved 12 February 2022.
[edit source]
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Médiaszolgáltatás-támogató_és_Vagyonkezelő_Alap&oldid=1366779295#Television"