Keyword – hybridisation

Orsolya, Nagy:

Blurry Lines

The boundaries between the producer and the consumer have been increasingly blurred for decades; the emergence of the prosumer is not a novelty in the world of media studies. However, while there is relatively great academic interest in the receiver or fan who becomes an author, there is less discussion of the integration of fan content creation strategies in authorial communication and the relationship between authorial and audience interpretations and canons. This paper analyses the contents responsible for the promotion of the concept album EPIC: The Musical written and published by Jorge Miguel Rivera-Herrans and shows how the (self-)analytical contents made public by the author and the classic fan interpretation practices relate to each other. Furthermore, it examines how the contents that influence interpretation interact with fan content creation and how the latter contributes to the creation of popularising or ex- planatory authorial content. A key aspect of the research is the influential role of the author as a celebri- ty upon audiences’ interpretive work.

Keywords: authorship, fan culture, hybridisation, media convergence, popular culture

Benedek, István:

The Rise of a Hybrid Media System

This paper studies the rise and functioning of Hungary’s anti-pluralist hybrid media system under the Orbán Regime, placing it in the broader context of the country’s transformation into a populist electoral autocracy (PEA). It analyses how institutional changes and media manipulation strategies such as partisan media regulation, biased state advertising, and third-party campaigns have enabled the government to extend its control over the public discourse. By the late 2010s, the regime had achieved overwhelming media dominance, which fostered self-censorship, anticipatory obedience, media capture, asymmetric parallelism, and the erosion of media independence, all under the guise of formal media freedom. This paper also explores the implications of these developments for media polarisation and autocratic resilience, emphasising how government-controlled discourse and partisan audiences undermine informed decision-making and accountability, thereby securing electoral success and sustaining public support for the regime. Finally, it highlights potential challenges to the system’s resilience in the mid-2020s amid emerging international and domestic pressures, which could significantly impact the future of Hungary’s media landscape.

Keywords: autocratic stabilisation, Hungary, hybridisation, media system, Orbán regime, populism