BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — The owners of a vast majority of Hungary's pro-government media outlets are donating their companies to a foundation, creating a huge right-wing media conglomerate.
The Central European Press and Media Foundation's assets will include cable news channels, internet news portals, tabloid and sports newspapers and all of Hungary's county newspapers and numerous magazines, among others.
Agnes Urban, a media analyst at Budapest's Mertek Media Monitor, says that after Wednesday's "unprecedented" move "it makes little sense to speak about freedom of the press in Hungary" because of the power the conglomerate will have.
The foundation will be led by Gabor Liszkay, a newspaper publisher said to be close to Prime Minister Viktor Orban.
Since Orban's return to power in 2010, international studies consider press freedoms to have steadily declined in Hungary.
