Hungary’s main public television channel M1 and Kossuth radio suspended all news broadcasts on Tuesday, displaying a black screen with an apology for years of lying, as the new government of Prime Minister Péter Magyar moved to dismantle what it calls the propaganda apparatus of former premier Viktor Orbán. The suspension, which also took the public news website hirado.hu offline, was accompanied by the immediate replacement of the state media’s top management and the dismissal of several high-profile editors and correspondents, including M1’s news director and a well-known political correspondent who was escorted from the building by security.

The Magyar government, which won a landslide victory in April with a two-thirds parliamentary majority, described the move as the fulfilment of a central campaign pledge to create an independent and credible public broadcaster. “Today marks the end of propaganda broadcasts on public media platforms,” Magyar wrote on social media, adding that the previous management “lied on every frequency.” Orbán, whose Fidesz party ruled for 16 years, denounced the suspension as “tyranny” and urged supporters to switch to a newly launched television channel, Hir TV, which is affiliated with his party. European Union institutions, which had repeatedly criticised Hungary’s media environment under Orbán as undermining democratic norms, have not yet formally commented on the overhaul, though Brussels-based officials have previously welcomed pledges to restore media pluralism.

The interim leadership team appointed by the government includes new heads for television, radio, and online divisions, and the state news agency MTI saw over 90 journalists publicly back the reform goal, according to Reuters. M1 resumed broadcasting in the evening with films and no news programmes, while Kossuth’s frequency carried classical music. The government has said news bulletins will be reintroduced gradually as a new editorial team is formed and a new media law is drafted. With its supermajority, the Tisza party can amend the constitution, enabling a root-and-branch restructuring of the legal framework that had concentrated media ownership in the hands of Orbán allies and pushed Hungary down the Press Freedom Index from 23rd to 74th place in 15 years, according to Reporters Without Borders.

The overhaul echoes the media reforms undertaken in Poland after the defeat of the Law and Justice party, which similarly sought to depoliticise state broadcasters. Analysts in Budapest caution that building a genuinely balanced public service newsroom will be a complex undertaking, given the deep institutional entrenchment of partisan control and the parallel launch of Orbán-aligned outlets. The government has not set a date for the resumption of regular news broadcasts, but the appointment of an interim management team and the suspension of the previous editorial leadership signal that the restructuring is proceeding rapidly. The new media authority and the legislative package are expected to be presented to parliament in the coming weeks.