The independent mayor of a Budapest district whose councilors have suspended the local paper and TV station saying they are biased, is hitting back by employing town criers to call out the news.

Tamas Derce, the mayor of Ujpest, told Reuters Thursday he is reviving the medieval tradition in protest against the decision of the Socialist-liberal majority in his town hall to silence the local media.

"I will hire someone who will stand with a drum at busy junctions of the district, and another one with a loudspeaker," Derce said. The town criers will keep working until the councilors reverse their decision, he said.