About babelblogs

What are these blogs and what are they for?

cafebabel.com babelblogs are a European cultural project betting on the diversity of viewpoints. We want to offer a unique European platform for bloggers to express themselves. This important flow of grassroots information will further contribute to the fermentation of a European public opinion.

Why a cafebabel.com babelblog? To enjoy the support of a unique media platform in Europe. To have the chance to be read by other Europeans. To break down cultural barriers.

Who can have a cafebabel.com blog? Do you feel you have something to write that could be interesting for other Europeans? This babelblog platform is made for you!

Basic guidelines:

1. Your babelblog should have a specific European approach: whatever the theme you select - whether it be European poetry, photography, the future of Europe, information technologies, your experience as a journalist in a foreign media - make sure you add a European or trans-national perspective.
   What is a European approach? It's flexible:

   • a topic that is European in content (EU-US relations, university systems in Europe)
   • a national topic that is contextualised for a European audience (immigration in Germany, with efforts to compare to other countries)
   • a European view (French person in Lithuania, English person in Italy – observations and comparisons based on « outsider’s view »).

2. Think of yourself as a citizen journalist. Try to add editorial value to your post: it’s not only about your mood, a fact, or some event, but mainly about your analysis of this fact, your opinion about the event, or your feelings about the topic you bring to the European public. Don’t forget that it can also be funny or sarcastic!
3. Your babelblog must be respectful: no racism, no vulgarity, no libel. Otherwise, you won’t be able to keep your babelblog.
4. Your babelblog can be multilingual, written by more than one writer. You can babelblog with others members of the community as a group. We strongly recommend you try to use the multilingual function the blog platform will be offering – you can keep your blog in several languages at once. What cafebabel.com babelblogs don’t provide though is translation.
5. Your babelblog should be interactive: Do reply to comments, use videos, sound and pictures (making sure, though, you comply with copyright laws). All content published on the blog remains your property and your responsibility – no rights are transferred to cafebabel.com.
6. Your babelblog should be regularly updated! There might be babelblogs for a specific period of time (events, opinion campaign …), but if it’s not the case, make sure your babelblog is alive… There is no strict time limit for updating; regular can be every day, every week, twice a month depending on your schedule and nature of your babelblog. Inactive babelblogs don’t interest anyone (not even the babelblogger)!