Rundfunk, Politik und das neue Mediengesetz in Ungarn.

Abstract

Der Unterschied hätte kaum krasser ausfallen können: Während die amerikanischen Abgeordneten das neue Telekommunikationsgesetz verabschiedeten, was mit etwas Übertreibung als die Geburt der multimedialen Gesellschaft zu interpretieren ist, trat am 1. Februar 1999 das ungarische Mediengesetz in Kraft,2 das die Neuordnung der Rundfunklandschaft, die Schaffung der rechtlichen und institutionellen Rahmen des dualen Rundfunksystems, die Festlegung des öffentlichrechtlichen Charakters und gleichzeitig - als eine ungarische Besonderheit und Tradition - die Aufteilung des Einflusses der Parteien in den elektronischen Medien beinhaltet. Damit kommt zum Ausdruck, daß der Versuch der politischen Einflußnahme, die in Ungarn so alt ist wie die elektronische Presse und ihre ausgeprägteste Form in der KädärÄra erhielt, auch nach der demokratischen Wende allgegenwärtig ist. (...)

English

Tamas Szab6: Rundfunk, Politik und das neue Mediengesetz in Ungarn

Political influence on the electronic media is as old as radio and television itself in Hungary. Both the planning and the practical implementation of the media law, legislated in December 1995, reflect the tight interweaving of the media and politics. For a long time interest groups and parties tried to hold up the new law, because the status quo - downright chaos on the media market - suited their purposes better. As the darnage caused by the delays and political disputes became clearer and clearer, a compromise solution was found, which guaranteed that the parties would have equal and legal political influence in the public broadcasting media. In this way there was no breech of tradition, because during the communist period under Kädär the media were controlled by the party, and even after the political changes the governments tried to maintain the control of the state broadcasting media through their followers. The new media law laid the foundations of the dual media system - the juxtaposition of the public institutions (the former state broadcasting media) and the commercial operators, who were working at a nationallevel. The practical implementation of the criticised system of regulations turned out to be difficult and it was only after some two months delay that the two licences for private television with terrestrial transmission were issued. It can be assumed that the appearance of foreign service·providers on the market will initiate a process which, in long term, willlead to a reduction of political influence.