80 Angry Journalists

Thrilling account from inside Hungary’s most prominent independent online newspaper, Index.hu, while it’s slowly being placed under the control of Viktor Orbán’s autocracy. The pressure mounts until the full editorial staff of 80 journalists walk out. Will they succeed in building a new news outlet from scratch?  

War correspondent András Földes rushes down a narrow corridor with his camera. But instead of a war zone, he enters Hungary’s largest independent newspaper, Index.hu’s newsroom, his workplace. He’s not there to report on any physical conflict. He’s there to witness a different kind of war: a battle between a free press and an autocratic government. For twenty years, the news site had been András’ life. Now it’s on the verge of being taken over by Hungary’s autocratic Orbán government.

‘Sometimes I think it wasn’t the freedom in our reporting that bothered those in power’, András says, ‘but the fact that our community was so united.’ That unity is on full display when – in an unprecedented move – 80 journalists walk out, leaving the newsroom empty. The journalists refuse to back down and decide to create a new online newspaper, Telex.hu. They are led by fearless and inspirational Vera Munk, who becomes the editor-in-chief. ‘Our job now is to make a terribly good newspaper. One that’s impossible to ignore’, Vera says. But they face enormous challenges: they must build a new platform from scratch, find new sources of funding, and navigate an increasingly hostile environment.