How to survive the EU information jungle? Every day the EU machinery spits out thousands of pages of information directly affecting the lives of millions of Europeans. On the web, facts and figures about European institutions and policies are bountiful – but how to find the most useful sites and the right documents, especially in a hurry? The European Journalism Centre’s (EJC) managing editor, Anne Autio, gives a crash course in finding what you need.
The session first walks through the official sources of EU information: websites and databases of the EU institutions and agencies. These are the treasure troves of documents concerning policy-making and policy-tracking as well as legislative and judicial texts. The session explains the difference between a White Paper and a Green Paper. It follows the journey of a European directive – from a glimpse in Commission President Barroso’s eye all the way to a mature piece of EU law. The session also gives tools to finding the people and the statistics behind the decision-making and the processes behind EU tenders, grants and loans. The EU press service naturally gets a closer look – how to make the most of press releases and shiny press packs? And how best to follow the EU agenda and keep up to date on the unfolding events that often take several years to develop?
The second part of the session looks at the independent or commercial EU-related websites. Everybody knows Euobserver and Euractiv, but there are also several lesser-known alternatives. To get the big picture, or to find the rumour that will be next week’s EU scoop, it pays to regularly follow a number of information sources, including national ones. The session gives some tools for doing that.
Finally, the session introduces the eu4journalists.eu website of the European Journalism Centre – a concise resource for working or aspiring journalists covering the EU. This comprehensive guide to the EU includes “EU Basics” explaining how the EU machinery works and “Dossiers” covering every EU policy area from climate change to space policy, in both text and video. The contents may be used free of charge for non-commercial journalistic, research or teaching purposes.
Trainer: Anne Autio
When? Saturday November 22nd, 2.00 PM
Where? Erasmushogeschool, Room 3.01
