For years, Viktor Orbán showed how to take control of a country’s media without shutting it down.
You don’t ban journalism. You buy it.
Allies acquire major outlets. Friendly voices get amplified. Critical ones get squeezed — through regulation, pressure, access, or money. And over time, most of it falls in line.
That was the model. And it worked — up to a point. Because not all of it fell in line.
