What information?

“Despite substantial efforts deployed in Brussels, it’s hard to ‘relay’ European Union news at national level”, said Thierry Vissol, Special Consultant for the Media at the Delegation of the European Commission in Italy, in the opening remarks of a meeting presenting the findings of the survey “Notizie da Bruxelles. Logiche e problemi della costruzione giornalistica dell’Ue” (News from Brussels, logics and problems of EU journalism) F.Angeli editions, 2010, by Alessio Cornia, researcher at the University of Perugia. In Italy like everywhere else. The EU is rarely a news item of national media, Cornia said referring to Italy, as confirmed with the survey “Ricerche sul pluralismo politico-sociale” (Research on political and social pluralism) conducted by the Institute for the media, economy, society and institutions on behalf of the Italian Authority for guarantees in communications, an organism tasked with ensuring proper market competitiveness. Accordingly, in the period January 1st- December 31st 2010, the EU was referred to only marginally in national TV news, representing 1.6% of all newscasts, namely 11 hours, 33 minutes and 22 seconds, an average of 16 seconds per day. “In Italy just like in many other European countries, the editors-in-chief of national newspapers consider European issues boring, too specific and lacking news appeal, even though national legislations incorporate a large bulk of directives and regulations sanctioned in Brussels”, Vissol points out. Nor can “Community funds, some 130 billion euro allocated for EU Countries each year, be considered irrelevant. Available forces. Almost one thousand TV, radio, press and online media correspondents from 72 countries are accredited in Brussels. Germany ranks first with 128 journalists, followed by Great Britain (107) and Belgium (88). International or European media rank fourth (like Agence Europe or Euronews) with 75 correspondents, followed by Spain with 65, and Italy (59). A central position within the “European” information system, acting as the major reference point for journalists, is the Commission. This achievement, explains Vissol “is the result of the Spokesman Service (120 people), and the midday briefing with the press in cooperation with DG communication, involving a staff of 800 people, which promotes communication campaigns and provides support to initiatives directly addressed to citizens, with an annual budget amounting to 100 million euro”. The EU Parliament has a web TV. However, continues Vissol, “according to journalists it fails to make the headlines” and it is marked “by too many dissonant voices”. The Council, “which doesn’t avail itself of a dedicated structure comparable to that of the Commission, communicates on the basis of an occasional and fragmentary timetable”. Lobbies play a significant role, as “they provide news on the private sector and alternative viewpoints”, albeit “one-sided”, Cornia points out, along with “confidential sources” with whom correspondents establish personal relations. What are citizens interested in? For journalist Tiziana Di Simone, former correspondent from Brussels, “it’s hard to identify what citizens are truly interested in, but we ought to reflect on the fact that a European opinion wishing to explore the reasons still doesn’t exist”. Those who describe EU institutional news “too quaint and concerned about leaking internal conflicts” said Clara Albani, director of the Italian Office of the European Parliament “must be aware that communication has changed, and that the Parliament has decided to show that the final vote is often the result of thorough negotiations and compromises”. Giampiero Gramaglia, director of Agence Europe, who has been dealing with European economic and political information since 1953, said: “European information cannot be conveyed only ‘by contract’. As a journalist I am satisfied only when it is considered useful and interesting by the citizens”. According to Gramaglia, the logics of newsmaking are the same “here in Brussels as in Rome, New York or in Moscow”. What does in fact pertain specifically to Brussels is the difficulty in relaying European news items”. “Are we sure that this claim doesn’t hide the attempt to avoid responsibilities?” he asked. In the 1980s “less than 500 journalists were accredited in Brussels; now they’re one thousand”. Nonetheless, “50 at the most attend the rendez-vous de midi“. For the director of Agence Europe, formerly responsible for Ansa North America news agency, “while in the US the ‘press staff’ of the White House is favoured, in Berlaymont Palace this is no longer the case, and journalists are flooded with emails of press releases”. “Having made news available to everyone in real time has ‘killed’ headline news”, he concluded.