Paper closes; Hungarians blame politics

Philosopher, Gaspar Miklos Tamas, speaks during a sympathy demonstration organised to express solidarity with Hungarian political daily Nepszabadsag in Budapest, Hungary, Saturday, Oct. 8, 2016.
Philosopher, Gaspar Miklos Tamas, speaks during a sympathy demonstration organised to express solidarity with Hungarian political daily Nepszabadsag in Budapest, Hungary, Saturday, Oct. 8, 2016.

BUDAPEST, Hungary -- Hungary's largest left-wing political newspaper suspended publication because of "considerable" losses, its owner said Saturday. The move was condemned by opposition parties across the political spectrum, who accused Prime Minister Viktor Orban's government of trying to extend its dominance over the media.

In the capital of Budapest, thousands of people attended a rally Saturday afternoon to support freedom of the press and the Nepszabadsag paper outside parliament. Some lit a bonfire using copies of a pro-government newspaper.

Mediaworks said it was searching for the "best business model" for the Nepszabadsag paper, offering subscribers alternative publications or refunds. The company did not say when the newspaper might reappear but said it wants to "preserve Nepszabadsag for the future."

Mediaworks said the paper lost more than $18.4 million since 2007 and was generating "a considerable net loss" so far this year. Journalists at the newspaper said they weren't given advance notice and described the suspension of the paper's print and online editions as a "coup."

"The Nepszabadsag newsroom found out at the same time as the public that the newspaper had been shut down effective immediately," journalists wrote on the paper's Facebook page. "Our first thought is that it's a coup. We'll be in touch soon."

Many questioned the timing of the suspension. In the past few days, the paper had broken several stories highlighting suspicions of government corruption -- including reporting on the extravagant travel arrangements of a senior minister and a personal scandal involving the president of the National Bank of Hungary.

"The total undermining of Nepszabadsag is the latest example of Viktor's Orban's megalomania," said Adam Mirkoczi, spokesman of the far-right Jobbik party. "The only aim of Fidesz [Orban's governing party] is to either gain 100 percent control over Hungarian media or to obstruct it."

"I have a lot of respect for my colleagues who wrote the investigative journalism stories, these very strong articles," said Zoltan Trencsenyi, a journalist at the suspended paper who attended the rally.

Hungary's media landscape has changed considerably in the past few years, with many print and online publications as well as radio and television stations coming under the control of Orban's inner circle and then taking on a noticeable pro-government bent. "My modest opinion is that it's high time for Nepszabadsag to unexpectedly shut down," said Szilard Nemeth, vice chairman of Fidesz, alluding to the newspaper's communist-era roots.

A Section on 10/09/2016

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