Erstellt am: 14. 3. 2013 - 19:44 Uhr
Klubrádió saved!
After all the legal threats and pressure, one of the few independent information outlets in Hungary can stay.
Crilley
On a cold Winter's day last year, I took a tram ride to the outskirts of Budapest and walked through the snow until I came to a small unassuming office block. Is this what all the fuss is about, I thought? The sign outside said Klubrádió. With an average of 400,000 listeners every day, the 10-year-old radio station is Hungary’s sixth-largest radio station in terms of audience, and the second-largest offering news as well as music.
The feeling to independent observers & to some even at high levels of the European Commission was that the Fidesz-led government had finally found a way of silencing the critical voices of these broadcasters. A newly appointed Media Authority had been set up full of Fidesz government supporters. As Klubrádió‘s license was coming up for renewal, the station would have to re-apply for its license and if they weren’t able to fulfill new criteria set in place by the Media Authority to retain their license, Klubrádió would disappear off the airwaves.
Of course the Fidesz government and the Media Authority had denied that this was what was going on and affirmed that everything was fair and taking place within all legal standards. Transparency and a fair process was their aim, they told me after a meeting at their offices back in the city. The problem though is this is Hungary, and the government has been repeatedly accused of playing politics with the checks and balances of EU-democratic norms. It seemed that we had a David & Goliath situation where the powers of the Fidesz government were being used to clamp down on a thorn in the side of Fidesz & Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.
I guess the Media Authority possibly felt that Klubrádió, having lost the license would simply go away; any legal & financial options would eventually run out for the station. But on the contrary, the station embarked on a two-year legal battle and asked listeners to help them with paid for subscriptions. Klubrádió won court case after court case pertaining to the continuation of their license. The final straw came in the latest ruling by the Labour and Public Administration Tribunal in Budapest which again went in favour of Klubrádió. The Media Authority's final response was "In accordance with relevant court rulings, the media enterprise operating the radio station (Klubrádió) has been selected as the winner". This latest ruling was "satisfactory to all" and ended the "complex legal dispute".
According to Klubrádió’s lawyer Richard Stock: “The Media Council realised that the fight is finally over, there are no more tricks to play, no more options left. It's a huge victory for us, our existence is guaranteed for another 12 years”.
Why is all of this important? Whatever your point of view, whether you agree with the politics of Klubrádió or the Fidesz government or don't really care about poltics of Hungary, it is at least worth promoting a plurality of opinion in any EU country.
So is that it? Well the next challenge for Klubrádió is its financial viability. Stations like Klubrádió are privately funded and rely on advertising. Over the last few years, some of the larger companies in Hungary have withdrawn their advertising spends on outlets such as Klubrádió. As our correspondent Nick Thorpe told me, that is another problem and something Klubrádió will have to continue to tackle; it’s a problem that faces particularly any outlet that is not close to Fidesz. Maybe the fact that Klubrádió will be around for at least the next 12 years will encourage advertisers to return. For now, I guess the sekt glasses are being passed around Klubrádió's building as the broadcasters here can breathe a slight sigh of relief; this immediate battle for their survival is over.