Government: Hungary’s reputation in foreign press slips last year

Budapest (MTI) – Hungary’s reputation worsened in the international press last year, which was a calculated consequence of the migrant crisis, government spokesman Zoltán Kovács told a press conference on Thursday, citing a report by the Nezőpont Institute.

Hungary received “more intensive and more critical” coverage from international media last year than in the previous year, chief executive of the Nezőpont Institute Ágoston Sámuel Mraz told the press conference. Two-thirds of reports about Hungary in the international press were published in the second half of 2015, due to the migrant crisis, its analysis based on 99 media publications from 14 countries said.

The number of articles focusing on Hungary rose from 7,462 in 2014 to 12,503 in 2015. The proportion of articles which took “a positive” tone was 4 percent last year, the same as in 2014, the rate of “neutral” pieces fell from 71 percent to 66 percent while the number of “unfavourable” items rose from 25 to 30 percent. A majority of these latter reports were about the migration crisis, Mraz said.

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