Media war in Hungary – Simicska to become HirTV chief

Budapest, February 6 (MTI) – Lajos Simicska will in the future head the company managing commercial HirTV, the businessman announced on Friday, after the heads of several media, associated with him, resigned from their posts earlier in the day.

Speaking to whistleblower portal atlatszo.hu, Simicska added that Gabor D Horvath will become editor in chief of the daily Magyar Nemzet.

People in top positions of Magyar Nemzet, Magyar Nemzet Online, HirTV and Lanchid Radio announced their resignation early in the afternoon, citing “reasons of conscience” for their stepping down.

Simicska told news portal Index that the announcement had come as a surprise, without any prior consultations with him. Atv.hu quoted him as saying that he thought their move was “treachery” and that he was “stunned”.

On Thursday, Simicska told the online version of left-leaning daily Nepszava that the government’s reducing the advertisement tax to five percent but rolling it out to further subjects could lead to a “total media war”.

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Source: http://mtva.hu/hu/hungary-matters