Vienna, 03/07/2016
The South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) called for an end to alleged political pressures within Hungarian-language daily Magyar Szo in Vojvodina, Serbia.
According to different sources, political pressure on Magyar Szo staff members continues. For years there have been attempts to put the newspaper under the control of Hungarian political representatives in Vojvodina.
According to the latest decision by the paper’s managerial board, it was decided to ‘rationalize’ work conditions by broadening the journalist staff in the Novi Sad headquarters, while narrowing down the number of correspondents in Senta and Subotica in Vojvodina. Eight journalists and editors received a document asking them to decide whether they were willing to travel daily to Novi Sad for their work, instead of working locally, as they had been.
Requesting that journalists travel daily for work from one town to another may signal an attempt to have them resign or refuse.
SEEMO is a network of editors, media executives and leading journalists in South, East and Central Europe and its press freedom work is supported by the European Centre for Press and Media Freedom (ECPMF) project, as part of a grant by the European Commission.