A politician is tested every day, not always in front of the public, but this is a daily challenge for a politician - Krisztina Baranyi, the left-wing mayor of Ferencváros, said on Thursday in the KeljFelJancsi program, where she debated with Balázs Fürjes, the parliamentary secretary of the Prime Minister's Office.
The background to the case is that Baranyi announced live last Friday morning that he would not answer the questions of one of the journalists who asked him because he is an employee of the Pesti Srácok portal. He indicated: if he had known that the Pesti Srácok journalist would be present in the studio, he would not have participated in the program, and next time he would ask the producers which journalists wanted to ask the mayor questions. On Tuesday evening, Krisztina Baranyi said in ATV's Egyenes beszéd program that "I haven't commented on the questions of the Pesti Srács or other trash papers for a long time." In response to this, Balázs Fürjes, the Parliamentary State Secretary of the Prime Minister's Office, said on the show, "I have a dispute with the mayor that it is a very bad way for either left-wing or right-wing politicians to decide who is a journalist."
In the debate held in KelFelJancsi, Fürjes said that, for him, the freedom of speech and the press is compatible with a program being called Szigorlat, and he himself would go to such a program if invited. "It's good that this case sparked a debate about freedom of speech, because it's not part of everyday discourse," he noted. Regarding whether he has any expectations regarding a particular show, he said that apart from basic questions (for example, how long the show will be), he does not ask because "the fewer expectations a person has, the easier life is." According to Baranyi, this debate should not have happened now, but at least five or six years earlier, however, according to him, this is not about freedom of speech, but about the fact that the Hungarian public is drifting into an abnormal situation thanks to the enormous media supremacy of Fidesz.
- We consider as legitimate the propaganda tools created for discrediting with public money, for political purposes, which are not press products, and we can't do anything because they are constantly receiving money, and the politicians are tired of the lawsuits - explained the left-wing mayor. He added that people treat the content of these media as truth if they have no other source of information.
Krisztina Baranyi also said that she was shocked during the Friday show, the presenter of Pesti Srácok arrived late, it was not revealed before the broadcast that he would be there, so she was confronted with his presence there.
At first he thought he would turn the corner and leave, but he saw the headlines about him running away from the conversation, so he stayed in the studio instead. According to Fürjes, politicians also have the right to remain silent, but politicians are not called to classify the press, journalists and press products.
Baranyi said that he has not spoken to the Pesti Srácok for years because, according to his claim, they have been harassing him for years. According to his words, what is agitational propaganda and what is the press can be defined in a textbook. "What they are asking is no longer true, for example, this distinguishes propaganda from the free press," Baranyi indicated, and then cited PestiSrácok headlines that talk about him.
In response to this, Balázs Fürjes explained that, no matter how much it hurts the politicians to express themselves in the media, politicians should not make decisions based on personal emotions, because grievances are personal, but the personal grievances of those in public power influence the community.
- This is part of the style of public speaking, it is within the framework of freedom of speech and freedom of the press, but outside of good taste - said the state secretary. Fürjes then cited left-wing headlines - for example, the title of his article by Árpád W. Tóta: At last the devil took Mária Wittner away - countering Baranyi's claim and proving that, unfortunately, in the name of freedom of speech and press, there is no way to ban them, even if it is not in good taste they fall
According to Fürjes, he has been able to work well with Baranyi for years, they can put aside their differences, however, he pointed out
the left feels a sense of moral superiority when it classifies press products. The arbitrary, subjective opinion of politicians cannot be the basis for stigmatizing and excluding journalists, he said.
The presenter and Krisztina Baranyi also discussed the banning of the left-wing Magyar Hang from government information, to which Balázs Fürjes responded by reminding the Orbán government's information practices. - Viktor Orbán is the only one of the party presidents to hold one or two press conferences a year in his capacity as prime minister, when he stands up to the representatives of the media organizations that are mostly critical of the government, in addition, there is a weekly government briefing with the participation of Gergely Gulyás and Alexandra Szentkirályi, Viktor Orbán is also questioned by the opposition representatives in the Parliament every three weeks . As mayor István Tarlós held Budapest info every two weeks, in comparison, the current mayor Gergely Karácsony does not hold Budapest info, does not invite right-wing newspapers to the press conference and boycotts certain right-wing newspapers, the state secretary listed.
Fürjes emphasized that everyone has the right to freedom of speech and the press, politicians cannot decide on journalists and cannot silence anyone. In closing, the State Secretary said that he considers it very important that freedom of the press and speech is a universal human right, meaning that everyone has the same rights, he will always be on the side of politicians not restricting this and he agrees with Krisztina Baranyi that if important issues are discussed in the different actors of political parties can sit down in a civilized manner and discuss arguments, which is good for the quality of public discourse and democracy. Judging the politicians is the voters' job, he added.
Source: Hungarian Nation
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