The media and the EU face similar dangers. Christophe Leclercq, who established Fondation EURACTIV and the EURACTIV media network, creatively illustrates how characters could cooperate to avoid the worst.
In this Open Letter to the President of the EU Commission, media stakeholders and experts, in a personal capacity, along with MEPs and former MEPs ask for the Commission to support trust in public action, and to help sustain the media in this testing time.
For the moment, no one is talking about the ratification of a possible new treaty following the Conference on European Reform. To avoid failure and to engage citizens, the EU's institutions must be made to work according to the principles of representative democracy, and treaty reform must be the central issue at stake in the European elections of 2024, write Giorgio Clarotti, Oliver Costa and Christophe Leclercq.
Democratic debates require trusted information, less economic pressure on media, and more policy pressure on platforms. Supporting citizens’ choices, three concepts will help the von der Leyen Commission: ‘co-regulation’, ‘trust indicators’, ‘systemic publishing platforms’. This open letter to the new...
Christophe Leclercq founded the EURACTIV Media Network and the think-and-do tank Fondation EURACTIV. His fiction piece illustrates media sector consolidation, changing journalist jobs, values, platform regulation, and the fate of the EU itself.
Democracy is at risk and requires healthy media, several portfolios from the new EU Commission are relevant. After years of fake news and weak self-regulation, this ecosystem could be rebalanced if four key Commissioners cooperate around the media sector, argues Christophe Leclercq.
Last week’s Summit did not retain the principle favoured by the Parliament. Before endorsing the final ‘ticket’ proposed, parliamentary groups can make coalition demands: a new top job could help, for healthy media and sound platforms.
Given difficult elections, the new EU Commission President will need a theme supporting MEPs and Prime Ministers. After years of fake news, platforms’ self-regulation and media crisis, this ecosystem could be rebalanced by a Vice-President for Democracy, Media and Platforms, Christophe Leclercq argues.
The European Commission has just released a short-term action plan on disinformation. Remarkably, the sustainability of the media sector is hardly addressed, write a group of MEPs and media industry experts.
Seeing Brexit crumble towards a single market fudge with no UK say, daughter Europa pleads to re-unite her mother - with her father Franz-Emmanuel, not the ideal home-maker.
The European Parliament has just voted to back the copyright directive, as part of the ‘Digital Single Market’ priorities. Now, fighting fake news before the EU elections is not enough: we should prepare a vertical strategy for the media sector 2019-2024, writes Christophe Leclercq.
The EU High-Level Expert Group on ‘fake news’ published its report with recommendations earlier this week. Christophe Leclercq, one of its members, offers his views on its potential impact ahead of the 2019 EU elections, and why it matters to the media sector.
Ferdinando Riccardi, the long serving editor-in-chief of Agence Europe passed away on 22 September, after being a pillar of the Brussels press corps for decades. Two of EURACTIV’s talking heads contemplate his legacy.
Former MEP Stanley Johnson, the father of the current UK foreign secretary, told EURACTIV.com that Brexit should not throw out the baby with the bathwater and maintain the best the EU has to offer.
During the #Media4EU editorial series more than 30 media experts from six countries were interviewed about how the sector can overcome its crisis. This LinksDossier refers to all the interviews that have been published, as well as a bibliography of...
European media organisations have responded to the sector's crisis by focusing on domestic markets, while online platforms confirm their global vocation. But what if the key to success was more cooperation?
After the death of the print advertising model, news outlets are struggling to find sustainable solutions to fund quality journalism. Most publishers now diversify their activities by organising events, trying out new formats and forging long-term partnerships with the private sector.
Experts in mainland Europe are counting on the EU to solve the crisis facing the media and have proposed measures varying from regulatory support to innovative programmes. But on the other side of la Manche, even pro-European outlets are sceptical about EU involvement.
There is a dire need for the traditional media to change radically so that it can compete with social platforms in today’s information market and counter populist propaganda effectively.
The media sector in Europe is faced with a crisis of legitimacy, according to media experts from six different countries. Other challenges include concentration movements, misinformation about Europe and what EU reporting will be like after Brexit.
The Polish media sector is struggling to innovate under increasing government pressure. Three leading publications from different parts of the political spectrum explained some of these tensions during the #Media4EU series.
Paweł Lisicki, editor-in-chief of the conservative weekly Do Rzeczy, sees “no apparent threat to freedom of speech” in Poland, saying left-wing media outlets were currently suffering only because they lost their privileges under the new government.
The election of Donald Trump in the United States, helped by the far-right opinion news site Breitbart, is not a one-off event, says Victor Fleurot, a communication expert and self-proclaimed "visual activist", in an interview with Euractiv.com.
The EU has brought countries together more than even before, but the lack of a common debate is problematic. The Leading European Newspaper Alliance (LENA) is working towards this goal by bringing together seven newsrooms from seven European countries.
The need for fast, accurate and balanced information is always important. We value EURACTIV's good, independent journalism and support this initiative
Mella Frewen, Director General of FoodDrinkEurope
EURACTIV plays a vital role in bringing Europe closer to its citizens. EURACTIV has long recognised that the story of Europe has to be told across the continent, and not just in Brussels. We need to support a truly European and informed debate.
