Mediaworks Hungary Zrt.

Mediaworks Hungary Zrt. was originally created in 2014 by Austrian investor Heinrich Pecina after he bought the Hungarian newspapers Ringier and Axel Springer were forced to divest by the competition authority; in 2017 the company was taken over by Lőrinc Mészáros's business interests, and in 2018 it became the largest constituent company of the KESMA media foundation, forming the backbone of the pro-government media empire. According to Válasz Online's 2021 media map, Mediaworks operates 18 county dailies under a unified editorial structure, alongside national titles such as Bors, Metropol, Nemzeti Sport, Ripost, Magyar Nemzet and Világgazdaság, and weeklies and online platforms including Szabad Föld, Figyelő, Origo.hu and 888.hu. By 2021, the analysis found, government control had come to cover roughly half of the public-affairs media market, with Mediaworks-owned titles playing a decisive role in that dominance.