Index.hu

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Index.hu is one of the most popular Hungarian language internet news portals and message boards. It was started in 1995 as Internetto.hu, later renamed Index.hu. The editor-in-chief and founder of the site was András Nyírő. Currently, the editor-in-chief is Péter Uj.

Index has free language, some consider it vulgar, and it regularly carries tabloid news on the front page. The political orientation of Index.hu is not entirely clear. Although the portal has been openly critical of the incumbent socialist-liberal government on several occasions, the conservative right alleges Index.hu is merely a method of "letting off steam" in a state-safe manner. Their opinion is mostly based on the style of the site and the content of articles written by Árpád W. Tóta, who makes regular appearance on Index.hu. His controversial "Game over JPII" farewell to the late pontiff^[1] brought record site visits, but was threatened with forced close-down of the portal. He continues to publish on Index.hu with an openly critical view of the Church. Ironically, Index.hu's owners' political orientation is mainly right-wing, with a liberal bent.

Among the strong points of Index.hu is its alliance with Totalcar.hu, the leading Hungarian automotive news and test portal and linking to Tékozló Homár (lit. "Prodigal Lobster"), a consumerism-bashing blog.

The main competitor of Index.hu is the higher traffic^[2] Origo.hu webportal, which has a more established style and broader, but somewhat plain content. Index.hu is fighting an uphill battle as Origo.hu is run by the Hungarian branch of telecommunications giant Magyar Telekom (formerly known as Axelero).