Firstly, if you think we have "state captured media" in the US, I don't think you fully grasp the meaning of that term. Our major media outlets are independently owned and operated; they aren't directly owned or financed by the U.S. government or by sources controlled or determined by a political party, as around 80% of media in Hungary…
Firstly, if you think we have "state captured media" in the US, I don't think you fully grasp the meaning of that term. Our major media outlets are independently owned and operated; they aren't directly owned or financed by the U.S. government or by sources controlled or determined by a political party, as around 80% of media in Hungary is. You don't see politicians revoking public broadcasting licenses from American news networks or directing state advertising to pro-party media. The one unfortunate thing we do have in common with Hungary is the decline of independent *local* media (due to corporate consolidation and "vulture capitalism"), but that's a somewhat different issue.
The fact that American journalists tend to skew liberal does not make them "state captured", especially since half the time "the state" is controlled by conservatives. Tucker Carlson wouldn't be the most watched "news" program if liberals controlled the media like Fidesz does in Hungary. And while Hungary doesn't have the kind of brutal, journalist-murdering media domination found in most autocratic nations (like Russia, for example), but that's by design. Being a member of the EU, Orban needs a degree of "plausible" deniability, so you get his brand of "soft autocracy".
Granted, when Trump was in office, one could be forgiven for thinking America actually did have state-controlled media, with Fox News' blatant violations of journalistic ethics in exchange for access to the President, Newsmaxx having an *explicitly* stated policy of support for Trump, and OAN's general insanity in pushing pro-Trump conspiracy theories (earning them a nice little pat on the back from Trump during a press conference for being "good to" him). But in Hungary, this sort of political media manipulation isn't the product of an out-of-control politician whose party gave up trying to hide his irrepressible and blatant corruption - it's being competently institutionalized by a party apparatus that has shrewdly consolidated its rule.
And sadly, Orban is now getting a big assist from fanboys on the American right like Tucker Carlson, Rod Dreher, and Matt Schlapp - people who have surrendered any care for democratic integrity in favor of whatever strongman will oppose the bogeymen that have driven them to existential crisis - immigrants, gays, lesbians, transgenders, social justice warriors, etc. I implore you not to succumb to this same temptation. I may be a progressive, but like many here I also have my issues with the modern left. That shouldn't matter in this case. Numerous international organizations and observers have attested to the erosion of democracy under Orban. Democracy demands that we withstand some degree of cultural friction. And while our institutions are still stronger and our culture of independence far more robust than in Hungary's case, we are more vulnerable to this brand of creeping illiberalism than we have been in a long time.
Thanks for your comments. As will come as no surprise, I respectfully disagree with most of them.
I would encourage you to read Mr. Brandon Zicha's well-documented post below. It starts out: "This is a poor piece..." In it, Mr. Zicha rebuts point-by-point the various attestations of the international community concerning Prime Minister Orbán's stewardship of Hungarian Democracy.
As for the US media, let's be honest. I'm pretty sure you don't believe a prerequisite to being captured by the government is that the news media must be on the government's payroll. As for the US mainstream media, it is not beholden to the "government". It's beholden to the democrat party. The mainstream media is a democrat party propaganda tool used to 'manufacturing consent' (see Noam Chomsky).
You mentioned revoking broadcasting privileges. Well, the democrat party doesn't need a government fiat. The democrat party only needs to 'wink and nod' at its captured apparatchiks, the "Social Media' companies, who are more than willing to do whatever is needed. Take, for example, Twitter shutting down the New York Post's Twitter account for weeks ahead of the 2020 presidential election because the Post dared to raise questions (found on numerous Hunter Bidden laptop emails) about an extensive and brazen 'pay-for-play' scheme directly implicating Presidential candidate, Joe Biden. And, as it turns out, that New York Post story was true, but sadly the MSM didn't figure it out in time to help inform the public. They buried it - not because the government told them to bury it, but because the mainstream media understood what the democrat party wanted. How many times did we hear it had 'all the markings of classic Russian disinformation'? Yea, right. It was disinformation alright, but not Russian, mainstream media.
Appreciate your comments, but give me Viktor Orbán any day....
Firstly, if you think we have "state captured media" in the US, I don't think you fully grasp the meaning of that term. Our major media outlets are independently owned and operated; they aren't directly owned or financed by the U.S. government or by sources controlled or determined by a political party, as around 80% of media in Hungary is. You don't see politicians revoking public broadcasting licenses from American news networks or directing state advertising to pro-party media. The one unfortunate thing we do have in common with Hungary is the decline of independent *local* media (due to corporate consolidation and "vulture capitalism"), but that's a somewhat different issue.
The fact that American journalists tend to skew liberal does not make them "state captured", especially since half the time "the state" is controlled by conservatives. Tucker Carlson wouldn't be the most watched "news" program if liberals controlled the media like Fidesz does in Hungary. And while Hungary doesn't have the kind of brutal, journalist-murdering media domination found in most autocratic nations (like Russia, for example), but that's by design. Being a member of the EU, Orban needs a degree of "plausible" deniability, so you get his brand of "soft autocracy".
Granted, when Trump was in office, one could be forgiven for thinking America actually did have state-controlled media, with Fox News' blatant violations of journalistic ethics in exchange for access to the President, Newsmaxx having an *explicitly* stated policy of support for Trump, and OAN's general insanity in pushing pro-Trump conspiracy theories (earning them a nice little pat on the back from Trump during a press conference for being "good to" him). But in Hungary, this sort of political media manipulation isn't the product of an out-of-control politician whose party gave up trying to hide his irrepressible and blatant corruption - it's being competently institutionalized by a party apparatus that has shrewdly consolidated its rule.
And sadly, Orban is now getting a big assist from fanboys on the American right like Tucker Carlson, Rod Dreher, and Matt Schlapp - people who have surrendered any care for democratic integrity in favor of whatever strongman will oppose the bogeymen that have driven them to existential crisis - immigrants, gays, lesbians, transgenders, social justice warriors, etc. I implore you not to succumb to this same temptation. I may be a progressive, but like many here I also have my issues with the modern left. That shouldn't matter in this case. Numerous international organizations and observers have attested to the erosion of democracy under Orban. Democracy demands that we withstand some degree of cultural friction. And while our institutions are still stronger and our culture of independence far more robust than in Hungary's case, we are more vulnerable to this brand of creeping illiberalism than we have been in a long time.
Thanks for your comments. As will come as no surprise, I respectfully disagree with most of them.
I would encourage you to read Mr. Brandon Zicha's well-documented post below. It starts out: "This is a poor piece..." In it, Mr. Zicha rebuts point-by-point the various attestations of the international community concerning Prime Minister Orbán's stewardship of Hungarian Democracy.
As for the US media, let's be honest. I'm pretty sure you don't believe a prerequisite to being captured by the government is that the news media must be on the government's payroll. As for the US mainstream media, it is not beholden to the "government". It's beholden to the democrat party. The mainstream media is a democrat party propaganda tool used to 'manufacturing consent' (see Noam Chomsky).
You mentioned revoking broadcasting privileges. Well, the democrat party doesn't need a government fiat. The democrat party only needs to 'wink and nod' at its captured apparatchiks, the "Social Media' companies, who are more than willing to do whatever is needed. Take, for example, Twitter shutting down the New York Post's Twitter account for weeks ahead of the 2020 presidential election because the Post dared to raise questions (found on numerous Hunter Bidden laptop emails) about an extensive and brazen 'pay-for-play' scheme directly implicating Presidential candidate, Joe Biden. And, as it turns out, that New York Post story was true, but sadly the MSM didn't figure it out in time to help inform the public. They buried it - not because the government told them to bury it, but because the mainstream media understood what the democrat party wanted. How many times did we hear it had 'all the markings of classic Russian disinformation'? Yea, right. It was disinformation alright, but not Russian, mainstream media.
Appreciate your comments, but give me Viktor Orbán any day....