Journalist union blasts public TV for ignoring anti-Nazi rally
In a Klubrádió interview, the president of the Association of Hungarian Journalists (MÚOSZ) said that the public media should have reported on a December 2 demonstration in Budapest against neo-Nazism.
The demonstration came in response to the statement of an MP, belonging to the extreme-right Jobbik Party, who stood up in Parliament on November 26 and said that a list should be made of people with a Jewish origin – especially of those who sit in Parliament – because they pose a threat to national security.
Several thousand joined the December 2 demonstration, which featured speeches by prominent members of the government and the opposition.
Károly Tóth, president of MÚOSZ, noted that the media law requires that the public media cover major events and pointed out that all national dailies covered the Sunday demonstration in front of the Parliament on their front pages.
“In my opinion not only the ‘Royal TV’ (Public TV) should have broadcast the demonstration live, but Hír Tv (the right-wing TV channel) as well so that not only in politics but also in the media some door would have been opened” for opposition to anti-Semitic sentiments, Tóth said.
Sources:
Klubrádió broadcast, 7 a.m., December 4, 2012.