OSCE Representatives Reassured That Hungarian Public Media Is “Balanced and Imparatial”

Menyhért Dobos, CEO of Duna Media Service Nonprofit Zrt. (pictured), and Dániel Papp, CEO of the Media Services Support and Asset Management Fund, met with representatives of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe’s (OSCE) Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), writes Mediaklikk.

At the meeting, Dobos and Papp informed their visitors of the balanced and impartial Hungarian public service media system, highlighting in particular the guarantees of balance and impartiality through legal provisions that will apply during the forthcoming parliamentary elections.

The two executives play a major role in the newly-created Public Media Election Office, which was set up just last week. The office is designed to oversee compliance with regulations in the Civil Service Code on balance and impartiality in all public service broadcasts during the official campaign period and on election day.

At the end of the meeting, the heads of Hungarian public media, answering the question of the OSCE representatives, explained that the law dictates that the balanced and impartial public service media service provider does not and cannot have a say in the operation of the Hungarian media market, as it is required by the force of law to operate as an independent institution.

They also noted that, like all domestic media service providers, the balanced and impartial public media must also comply with the provisions of the Media Act that guarantee impartiality, as well as the provisions of the Public Service Code, which contain the basic principles of public media.

On the “This Morning” program on public television, Menyhért Dobos discussed his meeting with OSCE observers, informing viewers of the following points:

• M1’s structure is perfectly suited to ensure balance
• the election law emphasizes balance above all during the official campaign period
• public media does not politicize, but broadcasts politics

The reporter then asked Dobos what ensures that all political parties will get equal coverage on public media during the campaign, to which he responded that:

Public service media ensures balance not only on radio and television, but online as well.

He also brought up a rumor that the government funds public media, but Dobos reassured everyone that this was naturally not the case.

[Telex]