The largest source of independent news in Hungary briefly took down the front page of its online portal on Monday to sound the alarm over what it sees as its declining editorial freedom and to secure funding from readers to help protect its independence.
Journalists working at Index.hu fear the two investors who took control of the news portal last month may be linked to Prime Minister Viktor Orban and his ruling right-wing Fidesz Party and may try to curb their editorial freedom.
“On Monday morning we did something unprecedented: we switched Index off for a time so that those who consider it important get a glimpse of what it would be like without us,” editor-in-chief Attila Toth-Szenesi wrote in an article.
Source: Hungary’s Top News Portal Closes Briefly to Highlight Media Freedom Concerns | Reuters