HUNGARIAN RADIO SCANDAL

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The closing of radio stations by the Hungarian government has raised new concerns about corruption. Ambassadors of nine wealthy nations, including Germany, have warned Hungary that foreign investors could be scared off. Last week listeners to Hungary's only two nationwide commercial radio stations suddenly found themselves having to tune into a different channel. The country's national broadcasting authority, ORTT, had unexpectedly pulled the plug on Slager Radio and its smaller rival network Danubius Radio. Their frequencies were given to two broadcasters with close ties to the ruling Socialists and the main center-right opposition party Fidesz. ORTT president Laszlo Majtenyi resigned in protest.
Shortly before the US-owned Slager station went off-air, managing director Edina Heal told her listeners that authorities had misused their power. But the governing Socialists and the opposition Fidesz party are not impressed by Heal's cries for justice. They have been uncharacteristically united in defending the decision to ban the station from the airwaves. Fidesz said politicians demanding a parliamentary investigation represent only narrow foreign economic interests. But that is at odds with data provided by US-based Emmis Communications which won the broadcasting licence for Slager Radio in 1997.
Emmis submitted a license-renewal application in late September, promising 11.5 percent of net revenue as a license fee. Danubius Radio's operators pledged 15 percent. But rivals offering between 50 and 55 percent of revenue won the bids. Media observers, however, believe they will funnel money to political parties rather than putting it into the public purse where it belongs.
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