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During 23 years with the BBC, and in a 42 year journalistic career (when he was trained to use clear and simple language, avoiding jargon), for our Editor, Welshman Phil Parry, a free media reporting uncomfortable truths about individuals or organisations has always been pivotal, and now this is underlined by news that, Victor Orbán, who has launched extensive attacks on the press, could lose the Hungarian election in a few days, and investigative journalism may be central.
It’s nice to know that sometimes the work of people like me may do some good, so perhaps we need more websites like The Eye.
A case in point could be about to happen in Hungary, where after 16 years in power the right-wing Prime Minister of Hungary might be about to lose his job in the country’s elections on Sunday.
Throughout his rule he has maintained a fierce crackdown on an inquiring media, put cronies in key roles and overseen a hugely corrupt system.
Human Rights Watch (HRW) has declared: “Since 2010, the ruling Fidesz-KDNP government has used its power to deliberately dismantle media freedom and pluralism through control over the media regulatory body, which has allowed pro-government outlets to dominate, by exerting direct political control over the public service broadcaster, and financially rewarding pro-government outlets.
“Independent and investigative journalists face major obstacles in their work, including surveillance, threats, limited or no access to decision makers and public information and smear campaigns against them in pro-government media. Reporters Without Borders 2023 World Press Freedom report, ranked Hungary 72 out of 180 countries”.
This is appalling behaviour.
To state the obvious, unless you have an independent media, with people like me asking difficult questions, then those in power are not kept on their toes and think they can do WHAT THEY WANT!
It’s conceivable, however, that despite everything, Mr Orbán could lose on Sunday because the opposition (which is significant) has united around a charismatic right-of-centre figure called Péter Magyar, leader of the Tisza (Respect and Freedom) party, and (if it happens) investigative journalism will have played a central role.
Over four million people have now watched “The Dynasty”, a documentary by Direkt36, an independent investigative outfit, that details the luxurious lifestyle of Mr Orbán’s family, including his father, a former agricultural engineer, who owns an 18th-century palace in the countryside.
The ex-head of the central bank, once a close ally of Mr Orbán, left office last year after he was accused of involvement in the theft of up to €1.2 billion, and it has been claimed that lavish renovations at the bank involved the purchase of 72 gold-coloured toilet brushes at €130 each.
It appears that all of this information has not played well with voters, because a poll of polls last week, found that Tisza was leading Fidesz by 49 points to 39.
These figures are an incredible turn around over a short space of time, because on April 3 2022, Fidesz won with 54.13 per cent of the popular vote (admittedly using a skewed poll!).
Mr Orbán’s party received the highest vote share by any party or alliance since 1990, and won two-thirds of the seats for the fourth time. The opposition alliance suffered such a massive defeat, that shortly after it was dissolved.
But because of attacks on the media, corruption in the country, fraud at elections, and the snaffling of EU funds, Hungary (as represented by Mr Orbán) has been villified.
The European Parliament (EP) has viewed Hungary as a “hybrid regime of electoral autocracy” since 2022, and considers the country at risk of a serious breach of Article 7.1 of the Treaty on European Union (EU).
In January 2024, a majority of MEPs voted in favour of a resolution demanding that the Council of the European Union consider stripping Hungary of its EU voting rights.
Mr Orbán, though, may have met his match in Mr Magyar, who has championed free speech, and (we are told) wants an independent media.
He is a former member of Fidesz, and the ex-husband of one-time justice minister Judit Varga.
Mr Magyar garnered nationwide attention when he publicly announced his resignation from all government-related positions amidst a presidential pardon scandal in February 2024, in which she was a central figure
On March 15 2024, he announced his desire to form a new political platform for citizens dissatisfied with the government (so his party is pretty new, although it has already seen some success).
At the 2024 EP elections, his party secured second place, gaining nearly 30 per cent of the vote, the highest number and percentage of any non-Fidesz party since 2006.
Yet Mr Magyar could be riding the crest of a wave of popularity at the moment.
It seems that part of this wave may have been created by investigative journalists!
The memories of Phil’s astonishing, decades long award-winning career in journalism (when investigations exposed huge wrong-doing, but abuse invariably followed) as he was gripped by the rare neurological disabling condition Hereditary Spastic Paraplegia (HSP), have been released in a major book ‘A Good Story’. Order it now.
Tomorrow – how during that career, for Phil, covering major political stories was pivotal, so he looks with incredulity now at how the mainstream media has failed to scrutinise the Welsh nationalist group Plaid Cymru, or its leader Rhun ap iorwerth, with polls suggesting he is on course to be the next First Minister of Wales, heading a party in power.
