2. THE COMMISSIONER FOR FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS AND HIS DEPUTIES IN HUNGARY AND ABROAD 45 According to the summary made by the Observer Budapest and his Deputy, and the filling of these positions as a topic, is un- Médiafigyelő Kft., which covered the media appearances from derstandable, since this information of public interest affects the 1 January to 31 December 2019 and analysed them on a quantita- society as a whole. In light of this, the above-average activity of the tive basis, 2,448 media appearances concerned the Office during press is understandable. the reporting year. These included 1,957 online, 327 print and 164 Regarding media appearances, the third and fourth places were radio and television appearances. The outstanding proportion of taken by topics concerning children and their fundamental the online media appearances has followed the trend of recent years: rights reported on by various press organs. These include the the online platforms – in conjunction with the web contents – have Commissioner’s recommendation on the regulation governing the been continuously increasing in number, while the classical forms hospital stays of those parents who accompany sick children (93 of media have been steadily losing their importance. online, 29 print and 2 radio and television, altogether 124 appear- According to the statistics on the monthly breakdown of media ances), as well as the joint statement of the Commissioner and his appearances, the activities carried out by the Office gained the widest Deputies against the involvement of children in campaigns for party media coverage in February 2019: this month was characterised by political purposes (92 online, 3 print and 10 radio and television, al- 251 online, 48 print and 8 radio and television publications. This was together 105 media appearances). In both cases, the Commissioner mainly attributable to one of the Commissioner’s statements issued and his Deputies made statements related to issues that, being of that month. In December of the preceding year, the Ombudsman great interest to the civil society, generated a significant number completed a report which concerned the payment obligation of par- of media appearances. ents staying in the hospital with their sick child. In February 2019, As regards the number of media appearances of the Commis- the topic got wider publicity again, as the Office had previously issued sioner and his Deputies, in 2019, the largest number of news was a statement according to which the ministry agreed with the recom- published in connection with the name and activities of the outgoing mendations of the Commissioner and planned to take actions in the Ombudsman, Dr. László Székely, which meant altogether 832 (703 case. The media’s considerable interest was understandable, given online, 106 printed and 23 radio and television) media appearances. that it was a topic the majority of the society could relate to, and it He was followed by his successor Dr. Ákos Kozma with 410 (321 on- stirred up a lot of emotions. line, 56 print and 33 radio and television) appearances in the press. The statistics brought December 2019 to the second place with Dr. Elisabeth Sándor-Szalay, Deputy Commissioner for Fundamental impressive numbers again (240 online, 38 print and 13 radio and Rights, Ombudsman for the Rights of National Minorities was the television appearances), which could be put down – in addition subject of 237 (155 online, 55 print and 27 radio and television) media to the Commissioner’s considerable activity – to a topic that af- appearances, while 146 (133 online, 11 print and 2 radio and televi- fected the majority of the society and aroused media interest: sion) appearances concerned Dr. Gyula Bándi, Deputy Commissioner Ombudsman Dr. Ákos Kozma requested the relevant ministry to for Fundamental Rights, Ombudsman for Future Generations. postpone the introduction of the new rules of procedure pertaining The above-presented media advantage of the outgoing and in- to the establishment of school-readiness and the commencement coming Commissioners derives from the fact that their professional of compulsory education. activities cover a broader area in terms of fundamental rights, The number of media appearances was below the average in therefore they issue more statements that can form the basis of com- August (60 online, 9 print and 3 radio and television), in September munications. Dr. Ákos Kozma took office on 26 September 2019, (104 online, 8 print and 12 radio and television) and in October (79 thus the aggregate number of media appearances on his activities online, 14 print and 1 radio and television). Regarding the last month reached 410 within three months, including the transition period, of summer, this was a typically less eventful period, which was also while his predecessor, Dr. László Székely generated 832 media ap- true for part of September. Furthermore, the beginning of autumn pearances within nine months. was marked by the transition period (due to the taking of office The statistical summary of Observer Budapest Médiafigyelő by Ombudsman Dr. Ákos Kozma), which resulted in a temporary Kft. also outlines which specific press organs of a given media cat- decrease in the number of the Commissioner’s statements, i.e. the egory dealt most frequently with the professional activities of the generators of media appearances. Commissioner, the Deputy Commissioners and the Office. According As regards the statistics on media appearances by topics, Dr. to the summary, among the online platforms, the National Press Ákos Kozma’s nomination and election to the position of the Service of the Hungarian National News Agency provided the plat- Commissioner for Fundamental Rights was the event that re- form for the publication of news relating to the Office in the largest ceived the biggest media attention in 2019. In terms of figures, this number, with 146 media appearances. When interpreting this piece translated into 237 (176 online, 33 print and 28 radio and television) of data, it is important to know that the National Press Service is a ser- media appearances. This was followed by the re-election of Dr. vice provided by the Hungarian National News Agency through which Elisabeth Sándor-Szalay to the position of Deputy Commissioner, the Office can publish its own press releases. Ombudsman for the Rights of National Minorities, which gen- With respect to the above, nepszava.hu (with 98 appearances), hvg. erated 172 (108 online, 43 print and 21 radio and television) hu (with 96 appearances), webradio.hu (with 63 appearances), index. publications. The popularity of the election of the Ombudsman hu (with 62 appearances) and 24.hu (with 58 appearances) were the