Hungary's public broadcaster has temporarily suspended its television, radio, and online news services after the country's new leadership launched a sweeping overhaul of the public media system, marking one of the first major reforms following Prime Minister Péter Magyar's election victory.

At 16.00 on July 7, news channel M1 replaced its regular programming with a black screen displaying a message apologizing for years of political propaganda. The statement read: "Public media must not lie. We apologize that we nevertheless did so for many years. Public media are now being transformed to become independent and trustworthy in the future. News services are temporarily suspended. Stay with us."

The same message appeared on the public news website hirado.hu, while public radio station Kossuth Rádió also halted its news programming and temporarily switched to the cultural programming of Bartók Rádió. Children's and entertainment channel M2, as well as sports channel M4 Sport, continued broadcasting normally, including coverage of the ongoing FIFA World Cup.

The suspension followed the arrival of the new interim management team at the state media organization. Before news broadcasts were taken off the air, M1 anchor Csaba Radnai read a statement announcing that the new leadership would immediately end political propaganda, conduct a comprehensive legal, financial, and organizational audit of public media, and prepare the foundations for restoring objective journalism.

The transition has also brought significant management changes. Dozens of senior executives at the former public media organizations were reportedly dismissed or suspended, while several newsroom managers and editors were removed from their positions. Veteran reporter Attila Császár was reportedly escorted from the broadcaster's headquarters after being relieved of his duties.

The restructuring follows legislation approved by Hungary's parliament in late June, which abolishes the former public media organizations MTVA and Duna Médiaszolgáltató and replaces them with a new governance structure intended to strengthen transparency, accountability, and editorial independence. A newly created Independent Public Media Council will oversee the future public broadcaster, while appointments to permanent management positions will be made through an open selection process.

Interim chief executive András P. Horváth has been tasked primarily with auditing and reorganizing the public media system rather than managing daily editorial operations. Among the newly appointed executives are Balázs Bodacz, who will oversee news operations, former Index editor-in-chief Zsófia Mészáros, who will lead digital activities, and György Kerényi, who returns to head Kossuth Rádió.

Prime Minister Péter Magyar described the move as "a historic day," declaring that political propaganda on public media platforms had come to an end. His comments echoed campaign promises made before taking office, when he pledged to temporarily suspend public media news operations until conditions for independent and balanced journalism could be established.

The opposition sharply criticized the decision. Former Prime Minister Viktor Orbán condemned the blackout as an abuse of power, while other Fidesz politicians argued that the black screen symbolized the death of Hungarian democracy.

The developments bear strong similarities to the transformation of Poland's public broadcaster following the change of government in December 2023. After the new administration dismissed the leadership of Poland's public media organizations, TVP Info was temporarily taken off the air, while the flagship news program Wiadomości was replaced by a new bulletin, 19.30, as part of a broader effort to depoliticize public broadcasting.

Hungary's public broadcaster is expected to gradually restore news programming following the completion of the initial restructuring process, although no timetable has yet been announced. Initially, M1 is scheduled to resume broadcasting with entertainment programming rather than news, while the