“Hungary’s Klubradio station broadcast its news program on Feb. 14 as it had for more than two decades. The next day it was pulled off the air. Some 3.5 million people in the capital of Budapest, more than a third of the country’s population, tuned in for the show, according to the station’s head of news, Mihaly Hardy. Now devoted listeners stream it online only. ‘We have lost 60 to 70% of our usual audience,’ Hardy says. Klubradio is one of Hungary’s last remaining independent stations that airs criticism of the government. It was forced off the airwaves after a court upheld an order by the nation’s media authority not to renew its broadcasting license” NPR reports.

“That was the latest blow to press freedom in a country where the right-wing populist leadership and its allies have increased control and influence over the media. The European Union’s executive condemned the action, but critics say the EU hasn’t done enough to punish its member state for repeatedly violating the bloc’s democratic principles. Klubradio listeners have grown accustomed to its precarious political situation, Hardy says. Eleven years ago, it lost 90% of its revenue shortly after Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban came to power and ordered all state-backed companies to stop advertising on independent media outlets. Its fans stepped up with a pledge drive that, to this day, makes up for the loss in revenue, says Hardy.”