Ringier is selling almost its entire Hungarian portfolio—including one of the most visited news portals and several women’s magazines—to the Indamedia Group. The transaction is particularly significant because it transfers ownership of the tabloid Blikk, one of Hungary’s most widely used news sources, to Indamedia, a company closely aligned with the government. Indamedia owns, among other outlets, Index, which has become part of the pro-government propaganda machine following its acquisition by Indamedia.
With this deal, government-linked ownership becomes dominant in the tabloid press market. Gaining control over the newspaper—especially just five months before the elections—provides an opportunity for government propaganda to reach social groups that are otherwise difficult to access through other channels. All this is happening at a time when major online platforms banned the publication of political advertisements.