The Hungarian Press Prize, the highest award of the Association of Hungarian Journalists, was presented to the editorial staff of Atlatszo on Wednesday. The outlet, which is always critical of the powers that be and whose founder exposed police brutality and abuses during the Gyurcsány government in the autumn of 2006, and which also published Viktor Orbán’s private flights in 2018., or, for example, the scandal of the deforested canopy walkway last year.

While the exceptional work of this editorial team is being recognised with a professional award on the occasion of the Hungarian Press Freedom Day, the propaganda satellite organisations controlled by the government are conducting a campaign to portray the editorial team as a representative of foreign interests, citing the recently adopted law on the protection of sovereignty.

As the national holiday reminds us, Hungarian journalism has often been tried to be sent into oblivion by oppressive powers, but as Atlatszo’s acknowledgement indicates, it has never succeeded.

Our stand will remind the attackers of press freedom of this historic failure on 15 March, and the next day and the day after. We are in solidarity with Atlatszo, as we will be with any other newspaper attacked for presenting the truth, the reality. In other words, which serves the Hungarian interest above all.

The editorial staff of Válasz Online
Attila Babos, Szabad Pécs
Zsanett Bajáki, KecsUP Hírek
Endre B. Bojtár, Magyar Narancs
Dorottya Czapkó, Borsod24, Szol24, Szabolcs24
Márton Gulyás, Partizán
Zsombor György, Magyar Hang
Mihály Hardy, Klubrádió
Zoltán Kovács, Élet és Irodalom
Tamás Német, Telex
Péter Németh, Népszava
András Pethő, Direkt36
Péter Pető, 24.hu
Gyöngyi Roznár, Nyugat.hu
Dániel Szalay, Media1
Dániel Szűcs, Szegeder
Ákos Tóth, Jelen
Péter Uj, 444
Gábor Vajda, Qubit
Blanka Zöldi, Lakmusz

Cover photo by Péter Somogyi (szarvas) / Telex