News Platformisation in a Distorted Media Market

The Case of Hungary

DOI: https://doi.org/10.35765/pk.2026.5403.07
Keywords: platformisation, news media, distorted market, Hungary

Abstract

This study examines how independent Hungarian online news media navigate the dual pressures of platformisation and a politically and economically distorted media market. While digital platforms have globally reshaped news production, distribution, and monetisation, in Hungary these dynamics are intensified by strong state influence over media ownership and the allocation of advertising revenues, which systematically disadvantages independent outlets. Drawing on a mixed-methods approach, the study combines an analysis of publicly available financial data from four leading Hungarian news portals with semi-structured interviews conducted with journalists, editors, and media managers. The findings reveal that independent outlets operate under markedly heterogeneous business models, ranging from advertising-based approaches to hybrid strategies that integrate subscriptions, reader donations, grants, events, and merchandising. The results suggest that declining access to advertising revenues—due to both politically selective state allocation and the growing dominance of global digital platforms—has driven the diversification of revenue models. At the same time, platform dependency remains a central structural constraint, prompting a shift from reach-oriented to engagement- and brand-focused strategies, alongside increased investment in proprietary distribution channels. The Hungarian case demonstrates that platformisation is deeply shaped by national political and market conditions, giving rise not only to an alternative distribution ecosystem but also to diverse and adaptive business models aimed at sustaining economic viability and editorial independence.

Author Biographies

Rita Glózer, University of Pécs

PhD, is an associate professor and Head of Department at the Department of Communication and Media Studies at the University of Pécs. Her research focuses on participatory culture in social media and the transformation of journalism with particular attention to mediated public participation and power relations. She is the author of more than 51 scholarly publications, which have received 282 independent citations, and has a Hirsch index of 10. She has published three monographs in Hungarian.

Rita Szabó-Gödri, University of Pécs

PhD candidate in Communication and Media Studies at the University of Pécs. She is an investigative journalist at Átlátszó, Hungary’s first non-profit investigative journalism centre and watchdog NGO. Her research focuses on the platformisation of news production in Hungary. Her work has been published in TalTech Journal of European Studies, Médiakutató, MeDok, and Szociális Szemle.

References

Bajomi-Lázár, P. (2013). The Party Colonisation of the Media: The Case of Hungary: The Case of Hungary. East European Politics and Societies, 27(1), 69–89. https://doi.org/10.1177/0888325412465085

Baker, C.E. (2012). Media Concentration and Democracy: Why Ownership Matters. Cambridge University Press.

Bátorfy, A. & Urbán, Á. (2019). State advertising as an instrument of trans-formation of the media market in Hungary. East European Politics, 36(1), 44–65. https://doi.org/10.1080/21599165.2019.1662398

Bell, E. (2018, June 14). Platforms, publishers, and the uneasy alliance at the heart of journalism. Columbia Journalism Review. https://www.cjr.org/tow_center/platforms-publishers-api-survey.php?mc_cid=9e06932ef9&mc_eid=886c64f780 (access: 20.12.2025).

Bell, E. & Owen, T. (2017, March 29). The platform press: How Silicon Valley reengineered journalism. Tow Center for Digital Journalism. Columbia Journalism Review. https://www.cjr.org/tow_center_reports/platform-press-how-silicon-valley-reengineered-journalism.php (access: 20.12.2025).

Bleyer-Simon, K., Polyák, G., & Urbán, Á. (2025). Monitoring media pluralism in the European Union: Results of the MPM2025. Country report: Hungary. European University Institute; Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies. https://hdl.handle.net/1814/92894 (access: 20.12.2025).

Dobek-Ostrowska, B. (2011). Italianization (or Mediterraneanization) of the Polish Media System? Reality and Perspective. In D.C. Hallin & P. Mancini (Eds.), Comparing Media Systems Beyond the Western World. Communication, Society and Politics. Cambridge University Press, 26–50.

Griffen, S. (2020). Hungary: a lesson in media control. British Journalism Re-view, 31(1), 57–62. https://doi.org/10.1177/0956474820910071.

Hallin, D.C. & Mancini, P. (2004). Comparing Media Systems: Three Models of Media and Politics. Cambridge University Press.

Hallin, D.C. & Mancini, P. (Eds.). (2011). Comparing Media Systems Beyond the Western World. Cambridge University Press.

Horváth, K., Kovács, I., Polyák, G., & Urbán, Á. (2024). The frozen media sys-tem: Soft censorship 2022. Mérték Media Monitor. https://mertek.eu/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/MertekBooklets36-1.pdf (access: 20.12.2025).

Meese, J. & Hurcombe, E. (2020). Facebook, news media and platform de-pendency: The institutional impacts of news distribution on social plat-forms. New Media & Society, 23(8), 2367–2384. https://doi.org/10.1177/1461444820926472

Napoli, P.M. (2018). Social media and the public interest: Media regulation in the disinformation age. Columbia University Press.

Newman, N., Arguedas, A.R., Robertson, C.T., Nielsen, R.K., & Fletcher, R. (2025). Digital News Report, The Most Comprehensive Study of News Con-sumption Worldwide. Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism. https://doi.org/10.60625/risj-8qqf-jt36

Nieborg, D. & Poell, T. (2019). The Platformization of Making Media. In: M. Prenger & M. Deuze (Eds.), Making Media: Production, Practices, and Professions. University Press, 85–96.

Nielsen, R.K. & Fletcher, R. (2023). Comparing the platformisation of news media systems: A cross-country analysis. European Journal of Communi-cation, 38(5), 484–499. https://doi.org/10.1177/02673231231189043

NMHH (2025). Médiapiaci jelentés. https://nmhh.hu/kiadvany/1/Mediapiaci_Jelentes_2025 (access: 20.12.2025).

Polyák, G., Urbán, Á., & Szávai, P. (2022). Information Patterns and News Bub-bles in Hungary. Media and Communication, 10(3), 133–145. https://doi.org/10.17645/mac.v10i3.5373

van Dijck, J., Poell, T., & de Waal, M. (2018). The Platform Society: Public Val-ues in a Connective World. Oxford University Press.

PK-54
Published
2026-09-30
How to Cite
[1]
Glózer, R. and Szabó-Gödri, R. 2026. News Platformisation in a Distorted Media Market: The Case of Hungary. Perspectives on Culture. 54, 3 (Sep. 2026), 93-110. DOI:https://doi.org/10.35765/pk.2026.5403.07.
Issue
Vol. 54 No. 3 (2026): Contemporary Media Management: A Multidimensional Approach to Social, Political, and Technological Contexts
Section
Media management processes, business models and technological innovations

Copyright (c) 2026 Ignatianum University in Cracow

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Autor, zgłaszając swój artykuł, wyraża zgodę na korzystanie przez Wydawnictwo Uniwersystet Ignatianum z utworu na następujących polach eksploatacji:

  1. utrwalania utworu w formie papierowej, a także na nośniku cyfrowym lub magnetycznym;
  2. zwielokrotnienia utworu dowolną techniką, bez ograniczenia ilości wydań i liczby egzemplarzy;
  3. rozpowszechniania utworu i jego zwielokrotnionych egzemplarzy na jakimkolwiek nośniku, w tym wprowadzenia do obrotu, sprzedaży, użyczenia, najmu;
  4. wprowadzenia utworu do pamięci komputera;
  5. rozpowszechniania utworu w sieciach informatycznych, w tym w sieci Internet;
  6. publicznego wykonania, wystawienia, wyświetlenia, odtworzenia oraz nadawania i reemitowania, a także publicznego udostępniania utworu w taki sposób, aby każdy mógł mieć do niego dostęp w miejscu i czasie przez siebie wybranym. 

Wydawca zobowiązuje się szanować osobiste prawa autorskie do utworu.