| schema:articleBody
| - A Hungarian newspaper editor was sacked Wednesday over the publication of a photograph of Prime Minister Viktor Orban's family adding to concerns for press and academic freedom there. Peter Rozsa, editor of the left-leaning "168 Ora" weekly title, was fired because the picture "crossed a line of good taste" as it included young children, the paper's owner told the Media1 website. The photograph, showing the 57-year-old nationalist premier posing at home with his wife and five children whose ages range from 16 to 31, was sourced from Orban's own official website. But Pal Milkovics, director of the newspaper's owner and publisher, told Media1.hu that the picture was "ethically worrying". It was also not related directly to the subject of the article, a critical analysis of a flagship government policy to boost childbirth and reverse demographic decline, he said. "Regardless of the political roles played by their parents, children must be protected, and not used for the purposes of political messaging or making them targets of hate," Milkovics said. Milkovics also denied that the move was due to political pressure, saying he "would have done the same in the case of any other political family". The move raised fresh concerns, however, among Orban's critics. They say the independent media in the EU country face unprecedented political pressure following recent turmoil at leading news site Index.hu. Some 80 Index journalists, almost the entire newsroom, tendered their resignations in July after their editor, who had warned about growing political "external pressure" on the website, was fired. The website continues to operate on a smaller scale while trying to hire new staff. In recent years most independent outlets have either gone out of business, or been bought by government allies while receiving lucrative flows of state advertising. The state media meanwhile, have been turned into a government propaganda organ. International observers say a lopsided media landscape and restricted access to information helped Orban win a third consecutive term as premier in 2018. Also Wednesday, a group of 16 European press freedom groups urged the EU to respond to complaints that state aid to Hungarian public broadcaster MTVA and pro-government outlets "stacks the decks" against the few remaining independence broadcasters. Earlier this week, students at Hungary's leading film and theatre university barricaded themselves at the Budapest campus in protest at growing government influence in its operation. The university's top management and several teachers, including renowned director Ildiko Enyedi, have quit, while students have vowed not to let anyone into the building until its autonomy is restored. Fears for academic freedom in Hungary have also escalated in recent years, as Orban has moved to gain sway over institutions seen as too liberal. The prestigious Central European University, founded by liberal US billionaire George Soros, decided last year to shift most of its activities from Budapest to Vienna, after a bitter legal dispute with the government. pmu/jza/jj
|
![[RDF Data]](/fct/images/sw-rdf-blue.png)
![[cxml]](/fct/images/cxml_doc.png)
![[csv]](/fct/images/csv_doc.png)
![[text]](/fct/images/ntriples_doc.png)
![[turtle]](/fct/images/n3turtle_doc.png)
![[ld+json]](/fct/images/jsonld_doc.png)
![[rdf+json]](/fct/images/json_doc.png)
![[rdf+xml]](/fct/images/xml_doc.png)
![[atom+xml]](/fct/images/atom_doc.png)
![[html]](/fct/images/html_doc.png)