As Hungary Cuts Radio Station, Critics Say Europe Should Put Orban On Notice
Taking Klubradio off the air was the latest blow to press freedom in a country where the right-wing populist leadership and its allies have increased control and influence over the media.
BERLIN — Hungary's Klubradio station broadcast its news program on Feb. 14 as it had for more than two decades. The next day it was pulled off the air.
Some 3.5 million people in the capital of Budapest, more than a third of the country's population, tuned in for the show, according to the station's head of news, Mihaly Hardy. Now devoted listeners stream it online only.
"We have lost 60 to 70% of our usual audience," Hardy says.
Klubradio isone of Hungary's last remaining independent stations that airs criticism of the government It was forced off the airwaves after a court upheld an order by the nation's media
