Ads tax good for Greece, but bad for Hungary?

An independent conservative pundit remarks that the West is suggesting the very same therapy to Greece it severely criticised when it was applied by Hungary. He thinks advertisements should be heavily taxed and TV ad time severely cut back, but not just in order to reduce public deficits.

The ads tax war

Népszabadság calls the news-retaliation tactics employed by RTL “inelegant”; Élet és Irodalom condemns those colleagues who would like to take their own share of the ads tax spoils, while Magyar Nemzet thinks complaints about those matters disprove earlier allegations that the press is not free in Hungary.

Ads tax approved by Parliament

A left-wing columnist accuses the government of introducing censorship through a selective media advertisement tax. A pro-government commentator, on the other hand, welcomes the taxation of commercial media outlets with little added social value.

Ads tax plan under fire

The leading pro-government daily says a proposed new law would endanger media freedom without aubstantially benefiting the budget.  

Will Simicska wage his media war on his own?

Commentators wonder how far the feud between Prime Minister Orbán and his former friend and treasurer will go, and what impact it will have on the main right-wing media outlets which are ultimately owned by the latter.

Simicska bitterly opposed to 5 per cent advertising tax

The dailies build long stories around one single sentence uttered by the owner of Magyar Nemzet and HírTV, according to which any increase in the ads tax to be paid by most media outlets will lead to “a total media war.” (According to estimates, this would mean an increase from ...

Government and RTL TV make peace?

Left-wing dailies report that the Government has made a deal with the German owners of Hungary’s increasingly critical No. 1 commercial TV station and thus removed a thorn from German-Hungarian relations a few days before Chancellor Merkel’s visit to Budapest.

Government’s six month balance sheet

Left-wing analysts comment on the latest opinion polls, and speculate that the governing party’s decline cannot be stopped. Liberal and moderate centrist commentators believe that any suggestion that the government’s fall is inevitable is mere wishful thinking. Conservative columnists call for more caution and sensitivity in the practice of government.

RTL Klub revolts

Commentators agree that RTL Klub, the leading commercial TV channel has launched a harsh anti-government reporting campaign in retaliation for the new advertisement tax.

Media strategies 9 months before the elections

A moderate right-wing weekly suspects that the media multinationals may take the risk of supporting opposition forces in their quest to win next year’s election. Népszabadság, meanwhile, may be bought back by a Socialist foundation.