We launched the Szabad Magyar Szó (Free Hungarian Word) news portal on October 23, 2016 (the 60th anniversary of the anti-Soviet Hungarian Revolution of 1956) making quite a splash not just in the Hungarian public sphere in Vojvodina/Vajdaság but also in the Serbian media. It attracted over a thousand followers on Facebook the very first day it was launched. This welcoming reception demonstrated that the portal filled a real vacuum and an existing community need for the diversity and freedom of thought, public discourse, and writing.
The very name of our portal is meant to symbolize just that. First, our initial collaborators were mostly those editors and journalists who had been expelled, for political reasons, from the staff of the Magyar Szó (Hungarian Word) daily newspaper, which had clearly abandoned its public-service responsibilities. Second, the attribute ’free’ in the portal’s name signifies that its independent editorial approach is to steer clear of party and state dictates. We cultivate the principle of open dialogue of autonomous reason as opposed to the directives of closed monologue of omnipotent power.
The portal covers social, political, economic, cultural, and sports events of the region (Vojvodina, Serbia, and Hungary), but strives to follow and react to important events world-wide. Our sections include: Public Life, Economy, Wide World, Culture, Subjective, and Sports. Beyond our continuously updated content of these sections, we provide additional public services: An event calendar of cultural happenings, a weekly email update, and an Internet radio channel, Free Hungarian Word Radio, with podcast offerings.
We would like to credit this spirit and these services for the extraordinary success of the Free Hungarian Word portal that became, only six months into existence, the most visited online news portal and a most influential public servant, among Vojvodina Hungarians.
