21 March 2011
On 15th March 2011, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán in his National Day speech clearly blamed internal political actors in Hungary for instigating and fuelling the ongoing debate on the newly-proposed Hungarian media law. Is he right and if so, what does it tell us?
Like most political rows, the causes are generally complex and multifaceted – the media law debate is no different. However, what should have been an internal Hungarian debate was quickly internationalised by the Left-Liberal community in Hungary. The involvement of the European Union (EU) was eagerly sought and applauded by the Hungarian Government’s political opponents, although Brussels’ intervention was seen by Orbán and Fidesz as political interference. Nobody doubted it was an unmitigated public relations disaster for the authorities in Budapest, particularly as it cast a shadow over the beginning of Hungary’s EU Presidency.
Make no mistake, the Hungarian Government’s handling of the affair has been crass in the extreme. The quality of political communication at the heart of the current administration is exceedingly inept and stands in comparison to Fidesz’s deft handling of the political debate prior to the last election, where it repeatedly out-thought and out-manoeuvred the Socialist and Liberal propaganda machine. One can only assume that the current communications ‘experts’ have been moved aside in favour of the UK specialists recently hired, although are we really to believe that an English media firm can really appreciate the nuances of the Hungarian political arena?
Yet looking objectively at the furore generated by the proposed media law, particularly with the benefit of hindsight, some interesting and disturbing factors emerge.
The most obvious conclusion to be drawn is the confirmation that the political opposition in Hungary – the rump Socialists and Liberals – are dead in the water. Indeed, it would not to be strong to suggest that they are now irrelevant. In calling down the vitriolic and frequently misinformed criticism of th e so-called European progressives (Socialists, Liberals, Gr eens and Communists), the political opposition in Hungary merely acknowledged their political impotence. On another level, it could also be argued that their encouragement of external interference in domestic Hungarian affairs was ‘disloyal’ to the state and the people of Hungary. However you look at it, the Hungarian Left-liberal axis still cannot come to terms with their appalling electoral defeat at the ballot box, surely a stain on whatever democratic principles they claim for themselves!
As for the vociferous criticism of the wider ‘progressive’ forces in Europe, one should also see this as a clear reflection of their angst that their particular vision for Europe was also fatally damaged by Orbán’s election. Venting their frustrations on Hungary made little sense unless you recognise that Fidesz’s electoral triumph exposed the Left-Liberal fear of a Europe where national sovereignty is paramount, less interference from Brussels is now a respectable political option and that migration policies and minority rights must be balanced against social cohesion, cultural affinity and new economic realities.
Then we have the strange case of the European and American media and their coverage of the media law debate. From Warsaw to Washington, many sections of the international media queued up to trumpet their indignation at Hungary with its nasty government and vile law. Of course one did wonder occasionally how the media was able to report on a law that hadn’t been published and therefore unavailable for general perusal and commentary. In fact speculation was passed off as fact as some of the international press sought to outdo each other in the proverbial ‘media frenzy’, all of them swamped by their own hyperbole. Some journalists tried to convince their readership that Orbán was ‘too popular’ and that Hungary was being ‘Putinized’. Budapest was turned into Minsk as other media experts compared Hungary to Belarus.
As quickly as the story took life, it quickly died. The law was published and we could all reflect on how it failed to live up to its critics’ depiction. Even the EU quickly established that the basic tenets of the law were sound and the changes requested by Brussels were as irrelevant as they were cosmetic. The story was there was no story. The media law was yesterday’s news.
Although it might be yesterday’s news, the affair remains troubling and the quality and integrity of the media needs to be examined. At any time, did the international media wonder if they were accurately reporting the story or making a story? Did they meet the standards of objectivity and integrity they themselves claim to represent? Surely they must have found it somewhat odd that they were asking a former member of the Hungarian Politburo – László Kovács, a politician who had spent the greater part of his political life denying the people of Hungary a free media – if he felt that the media law was detrimental to press freedom? Did no-one in the media find it strange that the Hungarian Liberals critics in the European Parliament had just seen their party wiped out in the Hungarian elections? Were we really to believe that the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) could speak with authority on press freedom when so many of its members do not even have a semblance of media freedom in their own country? Are we not allowed to wonder why it is acceptable for the national TV regulator in the UK to fine media companies for screening offensive material but the same rights were not to be available for Hungary? Surely the appointment of Lord Patten to head the BBC Board of Governors by Prime Minister Cameron is less democratic than the Hungarian Media Council being appointed by Parliament? No matter how you look at it, this was not our media’s finest hour!
The opponents of the media law in Hungary have inadvertently opened a ‘Pandora’s Box’. It demonstrated real intolerance, political interference in the domestic affairs of a healthy democracy and exposed the shortcomings of our media.Most important of all, it sounded the death knell of Left-Liberal political opposition in Hungary and probably the EU.