Hungary’s media authority slams international criticism on Hungary’s media freedom

Hungary’s media authority has criticised recent international reports on media freedom for their “factual errors, methodological inconsistencies and one-sidedness” in their assessments of Hungary’s media landscape.

The National Media and Communications Authority (NMHH) supports every initiative aimed at making a professional assessment of the situation of media freedom and pluralism, the authority said in a statement. It added that as a responsible regulatory body, it considered it a duty to highlight professional and methodological concerns in the reports in question.

The NMHH said the fact that the authors of the reports tended to be individuals who were biased when it came to the situation of Hungary’s media landscape hurt the balance and credibility of the documents. It added that the reports tended to leave out professional opinions that differed from their own.

The NMHH said a study available on its website contained a detailed analysis of the reports published by Freedom House, Reporters Without Borders and the Centre for Media Pluralism and Media Freedom. The authority said it trusted that its constructive criticism would contribute to the publication of “more professionally grounded and balanced” reports on the situation of Hungarian media in the future.