What Europe is missing
#92
Dear Friends of Democracy,
The European Parliament will be elected in just over a month (6-9 June 2024). And no one cares.
Few topics. Few discussions. The debates on the European elections are not gaining momentum. At least, that is my impression here in Germany.
There are several reasons why European issues play such a small role, one of which is the lack of European-minded media companies.
This is strange considering the following fact.
More and more people are growing up in one European country and then moving to another. Within just one year, 1.5 million people previously residing in one EU member state migrated to another in 2022, an increase of 7 per cent compared with 2021.
Not a single country but Europe is becoming a common ground for more and more people. Simply because it has become easy to move within the European Union.
However, despite people becoming more European, most media outlets are still national-focused.
The following chart (from the fantastic media blog The Fix) shows the 30 leading European news publishers on TikTok in 2024. They are all national media outlets. That doesn't mean they don't cover European topics, but they do it from a national perspective, at least.
What is also interesting about that chart is that 12 out of the 30 media outlets most prominent on TikTok are English-speaking. Since only a minority of Europeans grow up with English as their first language, obviously, many people with English as their second language use these outlets based in Great Britain as their news source.
Therefore, wouldn't it make sense to establish an English-speaking media outlet that focuses mainly on European topics? It would reach a growing audience, and advertisers would find it interesting since many people would be younger and well-educated.
✊ It's high time for more European journalism, isn’t it? Thank god some people are already thinking in that direction. You definitely have to check out The European Correspondent.
See you in Europe,
Johannes