Former Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán's model of media control, widely emulated by aspiring autocrats, ultimately failed. His defeat suggests that propaganda machines are not always invincible against an independent press.

<p>Former Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán spent 16 years perfecting a model of media capture that aspiring autocrats around the world now seek to emulate. But his defeat showed that even vast propaganda machines are neither impermeable nor infallible in the face of a determined independent press.</p>