An oft-quoted question attributed (probably wrongly) to the former US secretary of state, Henry Kissinger: “Who do I call if I want to speak to Europe?”, still resonates as an indication of Europe’s lack of unity and leadership. It also signals a disconnect in transatlantic communications that is due, in part, to the lack of a pan-European media system that engages a broad continental audience.
But there are signs of change, as new technologies disrupt national and global forms of political communication and reshape news flows. With the European media landscape in some turmoil due to “the digital shift and evolving business models”, US-style models and reporting styles are shaking up the ways news is made and consumed.
There have been few successful news media efforts to address a pan-European public. Europeans show little interest in EU affairs and the news media cultures in Europe remain very much centred on the particular nation or culture they represent – privileging “legacy” or “old” media and their national language, looking at EU matters through a local lens.
