Incident
Hungary: formation of the KESMA pro-government media foundation
Owners aligned with Hungary's governing party donated 476 outlets into one non-profit foundation, KESMA. The government exempted the merger from the antitrust review that would normally apply to a combination of that size.123
What happened
On November 29, 2018, the owners of 476 Hungarian outlets, including television channels, radio stations, news portals, newspapers and magazines, transferred them for no payment into a single non-profit body, the Central European Press and Media Foundation, known as KESMA. Most of these outlets had already been supportive of Prime Minister Viktor Orban's government; several had themselves been bought in earlier years by businesspeople close to the governing Fidesz party. Ordinarily a media combination of this scale would trigger a review by Hungary's competition authority to check its effect on media pluralism. The government instead declared the merger a matter of national interest and exempted it from that review by decree. KESMA's outlets now make up a large share of Hungary's total media market, alongside the country's state broadcaster.123
Sustained; KESMA continued to operate as of the sources reviewed.123
What reason was given
Stated justification
What changed for reporting
Hungary's press freedom organization Reporters Without Borders later said the government-aligned foundation and state broadcasting together dominate about eighty percent of the national media market, crowding out independent competitors for advertising and audience.12
Timeline
2018
Who acted
| Name | Role in this incident | Office at the time |
|---|---|---|
| Central European Press and Media Foundation (KESMA) | other | Government-aligned media holding foundation |
| Viktor Orban | other | Prime Minister of Hungary (through 2026) |
Outlets and journalists
| Name | Kind | Relation |
|---|---|---|
| KESMA member outlets | outlet | affected |
Sources
Claims and evidence
Each numbered claim quotes the source it rests on.
- RSF's later assessment of the merged foundation's market share.
this group now controls 80% of the country's media landscape
Hungary, Reporters Without Borders.Claim 529, checked 2026-09-22. - RSF's characterization of the state broadcaster over the same period.
public broadcasting was turned into a propaganda machine
Hungary, Reporters Without Borders.Claim 530, checked 2026-09-22. - The number of outlets folded into the new foundation.
In December, the owners of 476 progovernment titles donated their outlets to a new non-profit entity called KESMA for free; the merger was exempted from antitrust review on "national interest" grounds.
Nations in Transit 2019: Hungary, Freedom House, 2019-05-01.Claim 626, checked 2026-09-22.