Parlement uit zorgen over overdadige informatievoorziening EU (en)
EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - In a disputed report on how the EU should be covered by the media in order to make it more palatable to the public, the European Parliament has divided the blame between EU institutions, national governments and public broadcasters.
The report, drafted by Danish Liberal MEP Morten Lokkegaard i, found that lack of information on the EU and its institutions is not the problem, but rather that there is too much of it and "without any real order of priority," even when it is advertised via social media networks such as Facebook or Twitter.
"Often they are not sufficiently clear, attractive or understandable, in many cases owing to the use of overly technical language that is very off-putting for people who are unfamiliar with European issues," the report notes.
According to MEPs, an introductory portal should explain in more accessible language the role and function of each EU institution.
Currently, the Europa.eu "gateway to the European Union" only partially fulfills that role. But users are soon put off by the maze of links, while the page advertised as "EU institutions and bodies explained" carries a warning that the page is "under revision" due to the coming into force of the EU Treaty - something that occurred 10 months ago.
MEPs expressed their concern that EU funding for journalist training has been cut back for 2011 and called on the EU commission to "strengthen its communication policy and put it high on the list of priorities" when negotiating the next multi-annual EU budget starting in 2014.
The decrease in the number of Brussels correspondents is "extremely worrying," the report says, and something not "in the interests of either the EU institutions nor the accredited press in Brussels." In order for the existing correspondents to carry on their work properly, the parliament calls on the EU institutions "to display greater openness" towards journalists and to facilitate accreditation.
Euro-deputies are also going to assess the "added value" provided by EuroparlTV, an online TV outlet costing €9.5 million a year, "on the basis of a comprehensive analysis of ratings and audiences."
"I think EuroparlTV is a good idea, maybe the way it's organised now is not the best, but it would be a shame if it was scrapped," British Labour MEP Mary Honeyball i told this website.
Ms Honeyball, who sits on the culture committee, said the outlet could get its inspiration from the BBC's parliament channel, which reaches an audience of 4 million people.
Public broadcasters are seen as bearing the main responsibility for informing about EU affairs, since commercial media often do not find it is worth reporting on topics which do not generate ratings and revenues.
An initial proposal by Mr Lokkegaard, to have "annual scoreboards" for public broadcasters and monitor the way EU news is reported on in member states was cut from the final text.
An idea to have member states produce "clear public service guidelines on coverage of EU affairs and ensure that they are respected, acknowledging EU reporting as a high priority" was also scrapped.
No taskforce
The Danish journalist-turned-politician's most controversial proposal - which also never made it to the final text - was to have a "taskforce of independent journalists" to produce "daily EU news coverage to be published on different platforms and channels in accordance with journalistic news criteria."
The idea caused outrage among Brussels-based journalists, with their umbrella organisation, the International Press Association (API), issuing a public statement condemning the idea as leading to "more spin" from the EU institutions.
The taskforce proposal was subsequently withdrawn from the final text, one week before the plenary vote.
"We are quite happy that the proposal to set up a taskforce was rejected. It was counterproductive and we had urged EP not to approve it," Lorenzo Consoli, head of API told EUobserver.
He said his association is aware of the fact that the EU is not well covered by the press, but said the solution is to have the commission open up more to journalists. In a positive development, he noted, "we are now seeing that the commission is holding more off the record briefings than before."