THE FOURTH ESTATE
When was the last time you watched Euronews? Be honest. If you're like us, it was during a late-night channel surfing at the Intercontinental in Sofia, sometime in the twenties, after trying in vain to find CNN.
Like many EU projects (see: The New European Bauhaus), Euronews is the kind of endeavor that momentarily seems like an interesting idea until the prefrontal cortex (aka the rational part of the brain) kicks in.
Although Euronews is not strictly an EU project, it could well be. Over the last decade (2014-2024) alone, the Commission has given the broadcaster more than €230 million, according to our colleague Magnus Lund Nielsen, who has crunched the numbers on the EU's media funding racket for us.
If you think that's an obscene amount of public money for a channel that few people will see outside of an Eastern European hotel room, that's because it's an obscene amount of public money for a channel that few people will see outside of an Eastern European hotel room.
Although there has been some grumbling in Brussels recently about Euronews' owners being linked to Viktor Orbán, there is no reason to believe that the money flow will stop any time soon. We hear that Euronews, which did not respond to our requests for comment, has recently extended its hand for more money in the Commission's latest media tender.
For reasons we have tried (and admittedly failed) to understand , the Commission is set to fund a range of Euronews-like outlets to the tune of €35m a year, which range from redundant to downright useless. We suspect it has something to do with a desire to blunt the influence of “Anglo-American” journalism on European affairs. If so, it’s not working.
And yes, under its previous owners, Euractiv was also dependent on EU funding . One could even argue that it was central to the company's business model. But that was then. Both our new owner, Mediahuis, and the editorial management are committed to maintaining Euractiv's editorial independence and have stopped this practice.
Chattering Classes' view in a nutshell : a media outlet cannot claim to be independent if the government or public donor is the primary or even the main source of funding. The only model that guarantees true independence is one driven by market forces, i.e. subscriptions and/or advertising. This is not always ideal, but it is certainly better than the alternative.
Moreover, given that there are many private media outlets in the market (yes, we are talking about our own interests), the Commission's desire to flush taxpayers' money down the drain by funding outlets that have little chance of surviving without significant public support is even more unfortunate.
Introducing our European correspondent!
To fully appreciate the stupidity of the Commission's media funding scheme, it's worth spending a few minutes on the website of The European Correspondent (not to be confused with EU Reporter, EUobserver or, especially, Euractiv!)
The site was founded by a group of Gen Zers in 2022 and sounds like a veritable manifesto, complete with a high-flown mission statement that they (inevitably) call their “Manifesto.”
“In the 21st century, Europe must learn to be a continent,” it says. “Histories and destinies are intertwined, and power is being redefined.”
Our favorite part: “European journalism didn't exist until now.”
While this may be news to anyone over 25, it seems to have convinced the “subsidy czars” at the Commission, who have just written The European Reporter a cheque for €2.2 million – money the publication intends to use to “expand into six new languages, develop our vertical video journalism, develop training programmes for European journalists and much more.”
The face of The European Reporter is Julius E. O. Fintelmann , a serious young German-born journalist known for his brooding profile photos and impressive collection of turtlenecks.
As editor of The European Reporter, EO Fintelmann will be primarily responsible for ensuring that the €2.2 million is spent wisely. European taxpayers can expect that EO Fintelmann has the necessary experience to carry out such a mission and that it is a serious news organisation, right?
Decide for yourself. Before co-founding The European Reporter and inventing European journalism in general, E. O. Fintelmann worked as a part-time freelancer for Germany's Handelsblatt in Istanbul.
“I work in the newsroom and am responsible for managing the site on weekends,” he wrote on his LinkedIn profile.
Previously, he wrote freelance articles on German-language theatre and one article for the German newspaper taz about the lack of student housing in Amsterdam, where he studied.
For now, The European Reporter's promise to create European journalism seems stuck at the aspirational stage.
On Friday, he began his main daily newsletter not with the latest news from the European Council, as the conservative mainstream media do, but with a bombshell about Winston Churchill: “He was celebrated for leading Britain to victory in the Second World War, but he was also a staunch supporter of the British Empire and held deeply racist views.”
Meanwhile, the newsletter European Affairs analyzed how unfairly the US and Israel (which the authors accused of committing genocide) treat Iran.
The article also contains an original thought : “War in the Middle East could lead to higher energy prices and inflation as oil and gas prices rise.”
In fairness, no one was more surprised by the Commission's decision to award a motley group of twenty-year-old left-wing aspiring journalists 2.2 million euros than E. O. Fintelmann himself.
“I still can't believe I'm writing this: The European Correspondent has received funding that will support us for the next two years,” he wrote on LinkedIn.
Our advice: enjoy it while you can.
FOREIGN POLICY
After just over half a year as the EU's “High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy”, Kaja Kallas has proven beyond any doubt that the position is completely unnecessary.
It is not her fault, nor that of her predecessors (except for Josep Borrell, whose gaffe-filled tenure has become the stuff of diplomatic folklore). The problem is simple: the high representative has less power to influence Europe’s foreign policy than any of the EU-27 foreign ministers.
And while major foreign policy decisions require an absolute majority (giving smaller members a de facto veto they are unlikely to ever relinquish), that will not change. In practice, this means that the high commissioner often finds himself caught in the middle between two or more factions.
Take Gaza. After 18 EU members signed a letter calling for a review of Israel’s human rights compliance under its trade deal with the EU, Kallas agreed to carry out the review. But many of the remaining nine members were unhappy with her decision.
“Kallas should have known from the start how far she could go with this,” a senior EU diplomat told us at the Council last week. The same diplomat added that after some member states “told off” Kallas, she toned down her rhetoric, saying last week that the review should not be seen as “punishing” Israel.
The council was divided into three camps on the issue of Israel and Gaza:
· The hardcore anti-Israel faction (Ireland, Spain, France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Slovenia) · Germany, Italy, Czech Republic, Austria, who say Europe should leave Israel alone · Moderates: Greece, Cyprus, Baltics, Poland, who support tougher language on Israel but take no action
This puts Kallas in a bind . Her ostensible role is to forge a common position, but that is clearly not going to happen. Indeed, the only thing that is certain is that Israel’s allies in the council will do whatever is necessary to ensure that the association agreement is not suspended.
The Middle East is hardly the only foreign policy issue that divides the Council . There is also no consensus on how to deal with Trump or China. Recent history shows that EU countries will go their own way, following the path they believe is best for their national interests. This leaves very little room for “EU foreign policy”. It is high time Europe acknowledged this reality.
CAROUSEL
Politico Europe veteran Cory Bennett, energy and climate editor, is rumored to be leaving for Bloomberg's Brussels bureau as political editor. Congratulations!
CORRECTIONS
We misspelled Carrie Budoff Brown's last name on the latest episode of The Chattering Classes. Mea culpa!
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