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Leaders
December 2020 www.intellinews.com I Page 7
However, research conducted by social media consultancy Bakamo at the request of BIRN showed that Hungarian investments are not having much of an impact.
According to the research, Hungary-linked media were not engaged much on topics like the EU, Russia, China and Orban himself like their local counterparts.
The only two topics where the audience in North Macedonia engaged slightly more with Hungary- linked media outlets concerned stories related to migration and LGBT communities.
The research include six Hungarian-owned media outlets in North Macedonia and three in Slovenia, but also 18 additional news outlets in Slovenia run by members of Slovenian ruling SDS party were added.
“Readers of non-Orban media outlets arе more active on social media and engage with the content at a higher rate than Orban-media readers,” the BIRN analysis concluded.
According to the research, this means people in Slovenia and North Macedonia, as well as in
Ozon shares jump 40%
in first minutes of trading after IPO on NASDAQ
Shares in Russian online retail giant Ozon surged by more than 40% on November 23 in the first minutes of trading after the most eagerly anticipated Russian initial public offering (IPO) in years.
The first-day jump gives Ozon a valuation of more than $7 billion in what analysts saw as a wildly successful launch.
Hungary, are less moved by what the media linked to Orban are telling them.
“Higher engagement means that non-Orban media articles receive more likes and shares on social media platforms,” according to the research.
Despite the apparent lack of impact, Hungarian- owned media are still generating significant revenues. Their combined revenues in Slovenia and North Macedonia in 2018 was more than €10mn, of which €7.3mn were generated in Slovenia and €3mn in North Macedonia.
During the debate in the EU parliament
in November, Slovenian MEP Irena Joveva underlined that Slovenian government, without public support, seeks to transform Slovenia into an illiberal society, endangers the media, and forms parallel structures funded by Orban to undermine the fundamental values of the EU.
Vice President of the European Commission for Values and Transparency Vera Jourova EU, who attended the debate said that the EU supports foreign-funded media when they act only as businesses, but when they have a political agenda then something is wrong.
Interest in Ozon’s stock market debut has been strong in the weeks leading up to the IPO. Ozon’s American Depository Receipts (ADRs), a financial instrument representing underlying shares, were sold to investors who had subscribed for the IPO at $30 each — comfortably above the $22.50- $27.50 price range Ozon had anticipated when it outlined its prospectus earlier in the month.