Regional news agency Jugpress (https://jugpress.com/), known for its coverage of southern Serbia, has brought attention to an issue regarding the opening of a visitor center in Lebane, Serbia. On 17 June 2024, local media outlets from Leskovac, Serbia, were notably absent from the event, which was inaugurated by the former Prime Minister of Serbia who is now the Speaker of the Serbian Parliament. According to reports from Jugpress, efforts to inform media from the southern region about the event were purportedly managed exclusively by former Prime Ministers office, effectively excluding them from covering and informing the public.
The South East Europe Media Organisation expresses concern over potential violations of Serbia’s Public Information Law if the exclusion of local journalists was indeed deliberate. SEEMO emphasized the importance of upholding journalistic freedoms and ensuring equitable access to information for all media outlets across the country. Jugpress called for accountability in adhering to legal standards of media access and transparency in governmental communication practices.
South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) is a regional non-governmental, non profit network of editors, media executives and leading journalists in Southeast, South, East and Central Europe. SEEMO members are in Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Georgia, Greece, Hungary, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Moldova (with the territory of Transdnestria), Montenegro, North Macedonia, Poland, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Türkiye / Turkey, Ukraine and Uzbekistan. Austria, Italy, Vatican and San Marino have a special status in SEEMO. SEEMO has over 3000 individual members, and additional media as corporate members.
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