Hungarian Parliament elects Independent Media Body members

The Hungarian Parliament has elected the members and the president of the Independent Media Body, a new entity established to ensure the independence of public service media and news services. Judit Bayer was elected as president.

All six nominees received parliamentary support. The members include Judit Bayer, Viktor Bálint, Miklós Hargitai, György Szabó, Árpád Kollár, and Miklós Sükösd. The terms for the professional nominees (Bayer, Kollár, and Sükösd) are two years, while the representatives of the government side (Bálint, Hargitai, and Szabó) serve four-year terms, or until the formation of the new Parliament.

The body was created following summer amendments to the 2010 media law. Its composition consists of three members nominated by the government, three by opposition factions, and three by media professional organizations. During the debate, concerns were raised regarding the necessity of creating truly independent media to prevent public broadcasting from serving as government propaganda.