Sixteen European press agencies have decided to join forces to create, with financial support from the European Union, a
“European newsroom” in
order to work together on European subjects, the European Commission announced on Monday.
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"Most of these agencies will meet in a common place where they will be able to discuss all European subjects, together request interviews and publish some of these productions on a dedicated site
,
"
said AFP, which is participating in the project. .
"Participants will also be able to benefit from training, in particular on digital and fact-checking,"
AFP added.
The German news agency DPA is the leader of the project, which will receive support of 1.76 million euros, the Commission said.
"
The search for this European newsroom is underway and it should be operational in mid-2022,
" said one of its spokespersons.
"
With this new step, we are strengthening Europe's information space and increasing citizens' access to quality information
," assured Commissioner Thierry Breton (internal market and services), announcing this initiative.
Besides DPA and AFP, the Italian Ansa and the Spanish EFE are notably part of this consortium.
An upcoming law to protect the independence of the media
The Commission will present in 2022 a law to protect the independence of the media in order to "
guarantee the pluralism, integrity and independence of the European media market against all types of unjustified interference
", he added.
"
These threats can take various forms, such as government interference, politicization of the public media or a high concentration of media capital in the hands of a handful of owners,
" he said.
"
It is the independence and pluralism of our media that are at stake, as well as the quality of public debate and public responsibility,
" warned Thierry Breton.