Nine European Media Outlets Launch Unique ‘European Focus’ Collaboration

What are the issues that move Europeans wherever they might be on the continent? How are they perceived, from Budapest to Madrid, Sarajevo to Tallinn? Starting with its first edition on September 28, the ‘European Focus’ newsletter will try to find answers to these questions. In a new and unique project, nine European media have joined forces to bring readers connected, informative and surprising perspectives. «At a moment when European public debate is still fragmented into national media bubbles, this kind of European cross-border collaboration is crucial», says Christian-Zsolt Varga, the Editorial Coordinator of European Focus and one of its initiators. «We wanted to create a space where we capture the complex, interconnected, bigger European picture that is often so difficult to grasp». Coming together to initiate a truly European discussion are the media outlets Balkan Insight (Bosnia and Herzegovina), Delfi (Estonia), Domani (Italy), El Confidencial (Spain), Gazeta Wyborcza (Poland), HVG (Hungary), Libération (France), n-ost (Germany) and Tagesspiegel (Germany). Via a weekly European editorial online meeting and a collaborative cross-border workflow between newsrooms, the European Focus newsletter will be produced jointly by a diverse team of journalists and weekly rotating Editor-in-Chief, feeding a plurality of perspectives into current debates while covering a wide range of political, social, cultural and other issues beyond the daily news cycle. In light of Russia’s war in Ukraine, Ukrainian media partners will be represented at each editorial meeting, where there will also be a seat available for journalists from other countries. «We cannot approach European issues in a democratic way without a truly European public debate. European media also bear a responsibility, and that’s why I believe in this project. It is a unique attempt», said Francesca De Benedetti, Europe reporter at Italian newspaper Domani. Each edition will consist of five short and original pieces in various genres, republished in local languages in the print and online publications of the participating outlets in order to bring a variety of European perspectives to a wider European audience. The first issue of the English-language edition will be sent to subscribers on September 28th and made available on the website europeanfocus.eu. Interested readers can already subscribe for free to the newsletter here for English version, and here to receive the text in Italian. The project is initiated and facilitated by the international journalist network and media NGO n-ost and co-funded by the European Union’s Creative Europe programme for cross-border projects that aim to support the wider news media sector. Nove media creano un appuntamento settimanale per il dibattito europeo