Hungary’s state television channel M1 has issued an apology to viewers, admitting that its news coverage had contained “lies” over several years. The announcement was made as public service media outlets undergo a major restructuring aimed at making them more independent and reliable.

Hungary's public news channel M1 temporarily suspended its news broadcasts to restructure the state media system to create an independent and credible public broadcaster.

The screen went dark at four o'clock on Tuesday, with only a message of apology for having lied for many years currently being displayed.