Public media dossier sheds light on how Orban's Fidesz Party maintained political control over Hungary’s state news agency
The interim leadership of Hungary's public media has published a 482-page dossier documenting what its authors describe as more than a decade of political interference in the work of the Hungarian News Agency (MTI), including orders to suppress, alter, delay or produce reports for political reasons, Telex.hu reports. An internal investigation was launched earlier this month, and four senior editors were suspended.
The document, compiled by MTI foreign-affairs reporters and editors under the name PRO DOMO, covers the period from August 2015 to the day before the April 12 election and includes hundreds of screenshots of email correspondence between journalists and senior editors.
It describes numerous cases in which press teams of ministers and Fidesz politicians sought to influence the wording of MTI stories or asked journalists to cover specific topics. Many of the cases were linked to Orban's press office and staff close to fomer foreign minister Peter Szijjarto and former justice minister Judit Varga. Recurring requests included promoting government campaign themes, changing headlines and avoiding reports that could reflect negatively on the Orban government or its allies.
Although his name is not mentioned in the document, Zsolt Nemeth, head of the M1 news channel, served as the liaison and is believed to have maintained a direct line of communication with Antal Rogan, the cabinet minister responsible for government communications. Nemeth was among the first to be dismissed from MTVA by the new management.
The dossier contains numerous examples of stories being blocked or rewritten, as well as instructions to prepare reports presenting politically favourable narratives. The alleged cases are grouped into ten categories, including completely suppressed stories, rejected topics, manipulation, delays, censorship and reports produced on direct instruction.
The authors argue that many stories were not rejected for professional reasons but because their content was considered incompatible with the government's political messaging. Some instructions were explicit, including statements that "orders coming from above must be carried out" and that "everyone is better off if we get through this as soon as possible."
They note that the strongest evidence of significant editorial interventions comes fro verbal accounts rather than documented written instructions. These allegations are significant because MTI is Hungary's main national news agency, and its reports are widely republished by domestic media.
The dossier describes an alleged instruction to turn a Politico report on Orban's election prospects into a more favourable narrative.
MTI did not cover a report by the Washington Post about an alleged Russian intelligence operation aimed at influencing Hungary's election by promoting claims of a plot against Orban. Similar stories were reportedly blocked.
Election coverage was also heavily tilted toward the ruling party. However, compared with the M1 news channel, which operated as a continuous platform for Fidesz propaganda, MTI's coverage appeared considerably more balanced.
International NGOs, including Transparency International and Amnesty International, were reportedly blacklisted, meaning their surveys and assessments could not be used in MTI reports.
Foreign-desk journalists were also allegedly instructed to present the September 2025 German election results in a way that made the AfD's performance appear more favourable. They were reportedly told to show the votes for the CDU and CSU separately.
MTI journalists were often asked to cover unverified claims from dubious sources. One case involved the US website Just the News, which alleged that Ukrainian officials had sought to redirect USAID funds towards Joe Biden's 2024 presidential campaign. Although journalists questioned the source's credibility, one senior editor reportedly responded: "Let's do it." The claim later appeared in Orban's political communication and pro-government media, according to the dossier.
One of the most politically sensitive cases came immediately before the 2026 election. On April 11, MTI journalists prepared a report on Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov's reaction to leaked recordings of telephone conversations with Szijjarto.
Lavrov said the two ministers had regularly discussed the situation of ethnic minorities in Ukraine. According to the dossier, the report was ultimately blocked after several hours of consideration, with the authors suggesting that publication was considered politically inconvenient before the election.
Economic stories were also subject to "screening" for meeting political critiera. A month before the election, Fitch Ratings warned about the impact of the Orban government's fiscal loosening, but a story filed by an MTI correspondent in London was never published. In a private SMS message, the journalist wrote that MTI had survived World War II and the communist dictatorship but had failed under Fidesz rule.
Although it is not stated in the dossier, the MTI economic desk was prevented from publishing analysts' comments on inflation. IntelliNews learned that economic stories in which the word inflation appeared many times, were also scrutinised and checked by Rogan's team
The publication of the document comes as Hungary's public media system undergoes a broader restructuring. In July, the previous leadership was replaced and the public broadcaster announced plans to rebuild its news operation around greater independence and credibility.
MTVA (Media Service Support and Asset Management Fund), the central state-run public media fund established in 2011 to control and finance Hungary's public broadcasters and national news agency, was dissolved last month.
Duna Mediaszolgaltato, which was part of MTVA, is now the legal successor and is tasked with overseeing television and radio broadcasting, as well as online news publications, while MTI, established in 1881, is expected to regain its independence as a separate entity under newly selected leadership.
M1's news service was suspended six weeks ago and is due to return on August 20, Hungary's state foundation day. The online news site Hirado.hu has yet to resume operations.
On August 19, the new interim management announced that it severed contracts with Gyula Balassy, whose companies have had a quasi-monopoly in state communication. The first audits of the MTVA led to HUF7bn (€19mn) in savings as management is reviewing tens of thousands of pages of contracts and documents, including an investigation into suspicious contracts.
Around HUF3bn in content spending has been cancelled for the rest of 2026 on the grounds that it was wasteful or professionally unjustifiable.
MTVA's budget doubled from HUF80bn (€220mn) in 2015 to HUF155bn in 2026.
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