Several dozen staff members have quit Hungary’s most-read news website after its editor was fired earlier this week.
About 60 workers at the Index.hu website said on July 24 that they were stepping down in solidarity with fired editor Szabolcs Dull.
Index.hu has long been targeted by Hungary's authoritarian prime minister, Viktor Orban, who has called it a "fake news factory."
The website’s advertising sales were recently taken over by pro-Orban businessman Miklos Vaszily, a development that was considered ominous for the website’s editorial independence.
Dull was fired on July 21 after a dispute between management and the editorial staff over a proposed reorganization of the newsroom.
Staff decided to quit after management rejected a demand to reinstate Dull.
Press freedoms have been in decline in Hungary since Orban returned to power in 2010.
In recent years, many independent news outlets have either gone out of business or have been bought up by Orban allies.