Hungarian News

RTL Klub

• February 6, 2022
• István
• 3 Comments

This week – again – RTL was punished by the media council, the FIDESZ-only staffed media watchdog. This time, because RTL aired “social advertising” about raising children. In “family friendly Hungary,” this you are already greeted with when arriving at Budapest airport ►picture, this is forbidden. Because it was about children whose parents happened to be lesbian or gay. Here is the dangerous spot ►HU. According to the Media Council, “although children have difficulty in understanding the in the ad appearing same-sex couples raising children and the discussions concerning families, this may only be broadcasted between 9 o’clock in the evening and 5 in the morning, while they were shown on the channel from 6 o’clock in the morning and 8 in the evening.” Yes, the media council makes obviously a difference between families and non-families, where adults are raising children without the concept of one woman and one man married to each other, this makes the statement already on the linguistic level so difficult to understand. It seems that RTL got knowledge of being fined through media publications before the media council informed the broadcaster ►HU. RTL will appeal to the courts.

Together with TV2 RTL Klub is the largest TV station of Hungary, the share of the market is sometimes in favour of the one, sometimes in favour of the other. Each of them has a share 3 times bigger than the 3rd most watched channel Duna. Most watched news and often most watched program of a week are the news of RTL Klub ►HU.

Among TV stations that can be watched for free in Hungary RTL is the only independent station offering a full program. TV2 is today owned by a businessman connected to Lőrinc Mészáros, Pesti TV is the propaganda channel of the infamous Pesti Srácok. The others are the “public” stations airing the government program anyway or offer a special interest program. Special interest doesn’t mean that no propaganda is broadcasted, especially the indoctrination spots how great things are under Orbán are found everywhere as “governmental information.”

For long RTL has had the name of a station where primitive shows found a home and as the station that needed blood for getting into the news – be it by crime or accident. When Orbán still controlled a significant share of the media only and he sent his cronies to buy as many media as possible he also wanted RTL for total control. He succeeded concerning TV2 after a financially strange buy-out through the board of directors, after this short period Andy Vajna controlled the station until his death. As largest TV station with a huge concern in its back RTL was so stable that Orbán introduced the advertisement tax to make business in Hungary a lossing deal. The higher the income of advertisements were the higher the rate of the tax, the top rate only RTL had to pay. This lead to the “Geci-gate,” when the oligarch and former media mogul Simicska broke with Orbán. Regime friendly outlets were later compensated with well-paid “governmental information” spots.

RTL reacted and started to report about the crimes of the regime. A time RTL news were really interesting to watch. This made an end to the peoples believe that Orbán has defeated corruption all together with the bad, bad socialists. This was a short while of the 12 years of the regime, because Orbán dramatically reduced the tax under the condition that RTL returned to the reporting about crime and accidents.

For many years I didn’t have a look at RTL news any more, since this is definitely not what I want to watch. Watching regime news is more interesting to that on occasion, because this offers the chance to compare them with reality and to find the differences.

In the recent days I found an increasing number of independent news outlets referring to RTL research, which I also linked a couple of times. This made me having a closer look. And indeed there are many interesting reports next to the for this station obviously inevitable stories about accidents and crime. But yesterday evening watching the news brought several items the regime doesn’t like to hear:

• Since 1920 died not that many people in Hungary as last year through corona. RTL had an interview with a young woman how bad her mother has been treated in hospital.
• An old woman hit Péter Márki-Zay’s chin with her fist and RTL has shown his reaction: “Exactly this is where the elections are about: Choosing between hate and love,” he said in a scene shown in full. After showing billboards with “Mini Feri” (the paper version of the spot banned by Youtube) and Márki-Zays posters with Orbán’s face and the text “he lies, therefore he is afraid to debate” before showing a statement of a social psychologist. How Péter Jakab was just not run into by a construction machine was shown and other parties were asked about their experience about violence and the answers were between death threats by email to threatening by a gas pistol. FIDESZ did not react.
• Next item was the OSCE mission I covered yesterday, including the statement of commissioner Jourová that the EU has no means to act against electoral fraud. And of course our minister of justice Judit Varga was quoted that this all would just be said to be help the left. The just below 15 million (42 300 €) the government paid Megafon (Éva reported about the founding ►EN) for propaganda last week was shown, as well as the 10.6 million (29 900 €) Márki-Zay’s MMM spent for advertisement and that neither government spending nor foundation spending on campaigning are under control of the state audit as party campaign would be. Not to forget that Varga herself also spent more than 2 million (5 600 €) for campaigning.
• This was followed by the pick of FIDESZ for the seat of former secretary of state in the ministry of justice Pál Völlner ►EN. Gábor Erős is deputy mayor of Esztergom, owns a tourism business, and is football referee. While he previously claimed to have earned a degree this vanished from his curriculum now (hot item at this moment in Hungary, quite a number of politicians have a problem with their too fancy academic record MSZP has excluded a member, FIDESZ protects a couple of them.) Further he was found on a list of the tax authority NAV that shows his name among those who had employed people illegally.
• The government has overruled the judges in the question of media access to hospitals by issuing a new decree to avoid reporting. This has been reported about including pictures that RTL was able to record in Slovakia, but not in Hungary. RTL reported about the US claim that the Russian are preparing a constructed reason to invade Ukraine and that US troops are sent to European NATO members.

This is the direct link to yesterday’s news, free registration is required ►HU. You can easily skip the first 13:25

Nothing would be regarded as noteworthy for getting into the news in a democratic country, but in Hungary just mentioning these facts is already regarded treason against the ruler. I see this as a remarkable part of informing the people about what is really going on in this country. Perhaps it is way prettier to watch the relevant videos on internet but to waste time with watching everything including the part about accidents and crime.