Hungary: CFWIJ Condemns The Attempt To Smear Journalist Franziska Tschinderle
Location: Hungary, Budapest
Date: April 20, 2021
The national TV broadcaster, Magyar Televízió (MTV), ran an entire segment questioning the professional integrity of journalist Franziska Tschinderle. The channel made private correspondence between Franziska and a government official public during the segment in an attempt to mock Franziska’s journalistic work. The attack received backlash from several media freedom groups.
On April 7, Franziska Tschinderle was targeted on national television, through the national TV broadcaster Magyar Televízió (MTV), which ran a three-minute-long segment attempting to disparage Franziska as a journalist. The segment telecasted the emails that Franziska had sent to several MEPs from Hungary’s current ruling political group, the Fidesz party. The emails inquired about their potential future affiliation with the European parliament after the group quit the EPP faction last month. The segment called Franziska “amateurish” and “ridiculous” while accusing her of asking deliberately provocative questions.
Such a response to, what is, perfectly reasonable journalistic research received backlash from several groups. Austria’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Alexander Schallenberg, took notice of the events and termed it “an unreasonable and totally disproportionate attack”. International media freedoms watchdogs such as Reporters Without Borders (RSF) also came out to condemn this attack on Franziska’s professional credentials. And The Association of European Journalists (AEJ), too, expressed outrage claiming that this act was an attempt to damage the professional reputation of a journalist. Franziska, herself, termed the incident a testament to state hostility to critical reporting in the country. Representatives from the Hungarian government have not responded to this public outcry.
The Coalition For Women in Journalism condemns this attempt to smear the professional credibility of journalist Franziska Tschinderle and demands that the government issue a public apology regarding the matter. National broadcast services cannot act like propaganda tools that are weaponized against critical voices in the country. Press freedom is the cornerstone of an empowered democracy and attempts to intimidate journalists into silence only serve to weaken a country’s democratic structures.
The CFWIJ strongly condemns the police brutality against journalists. We demand the immediate return of the press cards seized from the security forces. Policies to intimidate journalists should be abandoned, and journalism should be practiced under the criteria of freedom of the press.
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