Hungary's public TV M1 halts news, apologizes for years of propaganda
On 7‑8 July 2026 the Hungarian state broadcaster MTVA suspended the regular news programmes on its flagship television channel M1 and on the public Kossuth Radio. A black screen displayed the message “Public media cannot lie. We apologise for having done so for many years,” echoed in Hungarian as “A közmédia nem hazudhat. Bocsánatot kérünk, amiért hosszú éveken át mégis ezt tettük!”
The suspension is part of a sweeping media reform announced by the new government of Prime Minister Péter Magyar, which promised to end the propaganda system that operated under Viktor Orbán’s 16‑year rule. Temporary managers have dismissed several editors and presenters, and the channels replaced news slots with films such as the 1979 political satire “The Witness,” beginning at the symbolic time 19:56.
The move has been described by officials as the end of an era of state‑run propaganda and an attempt to create independent, credible public service media.