‘Factory of lies’: what will Péter Magyar do about Hungary’s state media?

Journalists brace for sweeping reforms after years of pro-government control under Viktor Orbán

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or years they operated as government mouthpieces, using their sprawling reach into homes across Hungary to bolster Viktor Orbán and vilify those he cast as enemies, from the philanthropist George Soros to Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

But on Saturday, as Péter Magyar’s swearing-in officially ends Orbán’s 16 years in power, the country’s once powerful state media is facing the prospect of going dark.

“Everyone is afraid. How far will this purge go? And to what extent?” one state radio employee told the Guardian. “Nobody knows what’s going to happen,” said another.