"The broadcasting of propaganda on public media platforms has ended.. they lied on every wavelength," said Péter Magyar
BUDAPEST – Tuesday 7 July marked a historic turning point for Hungarian media as state-owned news channels went dark and broadcasts were replaced with an extraordinary apology to viewers.
At 4:00 pm on Tuesday, the main public television channel M1 went dark and Kossuth Rádió went silent, replaced temporarily by state-owned classical music radio, Bartók Rádió.
A highly symbolic message appeared on the M1 screen: “Public service media must not lie. We apologise for having done exactly that for many years. Public service media is now being reformed so that, in the future, it will be independent and trustworthy. News broadcasting is temporarily suspended. Please stay with us!”
Since public television began broadcasting on 1 May 1957, a black screen has been an exceedingly rare event, typically seen only during technical failures or national tragedies.
