Economy 24 June 2020, 2:03pm

Index.hu chief steps down, news portal still stands

Portfolio

The editor-in-chief of Hungary’s leading news portal index.hu has written statement after warning the outlet was at risk of losing its independence along with its editorial staff. This time he announced that CEO András Pusztay has stepped down, but assured that Index still stands.

Tuesday's development was that András Pusztay, the CEO of Index, has stepped down

, Szabolcs Dull said in a statement late on Tuesday.

The new CEO is Zsolt Ződi, a research fellow at the Institute for Legal Studies at the Centre for Social Sciences formerly of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences.

“As of now, we do not see what will follow from the departure of our former CEO who always stood up for our site and for the unity of the staff,” said Dull.

“But we know one thing for sure

WE STILL INSIST ON MAINTAINING OUR EDITORIAL INDEPENDENCE AND KEEPING OUR STAFF UNTOUCHABLE.

“In the upcoming days, we expect unambiguous safeguards for the values that make Index the largest and most visited online news media of Hungary,” concluded Dull.

News portal 24.hu reported on Sunday that under a proposal by the Board of the company owning Index the sections would be outsourced to external businesses. After that report Index set its independence gauge to “at risk”, sounding the alarm that their independence was in “grave danger”. On Monday, editor-in-chief Szabolcs Dull was removed from the outlet’s Board of Directors, saying he “has made internal decisions public”, while he could keep his job.

After Dull’s sacking from the BoD, Index’s Board now comprises László Bodolai, Chairman of the Board of Trustees at the foundation owning Index (who introduced Ződi as an “old lawyer friend”); former CEO Botond Andacs (Pusztay’s predecessor); Pál Szombathy, a former editor-in-chief of daily Magyar Hírlap and reporter at sports television channel Digi Sport; as well as Gábor Ziegler, co-owner of IndaMedia Group. IndaMedia is a strategic partner of Index.hu Zrt., it is not an owner of Index.

444.hu cited Pusztay as saying that the Board had taken a decision at a staff meeting last week that he could not have seen through with a good conscience.

Bodolai said in a statement that for him Ződi as a person is “guarantee that Index, as the most widely read online news portal of the country, will remain independent and reliable, as there is no other.”

Cover photo: Getty Images