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View all search resultsEditors leave Hungary top tabloid after pro-Orban group takeover
The purchase is widely seen as another example of Orban's business allies buying media outlets, with expectations that it will be turned into another pro-ruling party organ.
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Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban speaks during a conference on the country's presidency of the Council of the EU in Budapest, Hungary on Monday, January 20, 2025. (Reuters/Marton Monus)
T
he editor-in-chief of Hungary's most read newspaper said late Monday that he and another senior manager were leaving, days after a group seen as close to Prime Minister Viktor Orban's party bought the tabloid from Swiss media company Ringier.
The purchase is widely seen as another example of Orban's business allies buying media outlets, with expectations that it will be turned into another pro-ruling party organ.
Ringier's sale of its Hungarian media division to Indamedia group comes less than six months ahead of national elections, with Orban facing an unprecedented challenge to his 15-year premiership from an opposition leader.
The sale includes Hungary's most popular tabloid Blikk.
Editor-in-chief Ivan Nagy said he and the content development manager were leaving in "mutual agreement" with the new owner.
They were hired seven months ago to "reposition" Blikk, "focusing not on sensationalism but on interesting stories" and be "more public-oriented, covering politics, economics, and culture", he said on Facebook.
Ringier said in a statement sent to AFP over the weekend that its decision to sell was "based solely on strategic economic considerations and our focus on our core digital activities in Hungary".
Indamedia took out a loan of about 33 million euros shortly before the sale, news outlet HVG reported citing an official document.
The loan was provided by partly state-owned MBH Bank, which is connected to Orban confidant Lorinc Meszaros.
As one of the top five news sites in the Central European country of 9.5 million, Blikk reaches about three million online readers monthly, according to the National Media and Infocommunications Authority.
