cafebabel.com

Pure player

('Nabeelah Shabbir',) — Wed, 09 Mar 2011 10:29:39 -0000

Two English words swim around a country where anglicisms have managed to stay out of fashion. An era of internet business models is turning that counter-trend around, focussed mainly on the French and American e-media landscapes. Backgammon and ladies men have nothing to do with it (anymore). Phrase of the week

Viktor Orban: who's been a naughty boy at the European parliament?

('euro topics',) — Thu, 20 Jan 2011 14:27:41 -0000

A fierce dispute broke out between Hungarian prime minister and EU parliamentarians during Orbán's speech marking his country's EU Council presidency. The MEPs were above all critical of Hungary's new media law. While Orbán's reaction cast his country in a dim light, the criticism went too far and was implausible, write Hungarian, German and Slovakian commentators

What does terrorism mean in Europe anyway

('English language version of cafebabel.com',) — Fri, 22 Oct 2010 14:30:00 -0000

On 18 October EU counter-terrorism coordinator Gilles de Kerchove warned about governments crying wolf during recent threats of a new terrorist alert. The last time the EU continent was attacked was during the London bombings of 2005. The term ‘terrorism’ has taken on various meanings

Europeans terrorised by unemployment, not by terrorism on TV

('Nettah',) — Wed, 20 Oct 2010 11:30:00 -0000

Particularly in Italy, European television is obsessed with crime and terrorism,but the economic situation and the employment crisis are our real concerns. A recent report on the 'fears of Europeans' seeks to explain why

Join the family business in Crete

('Monica Mircescu',) — Mon, 27 Sep 2010 09:44:00 -0000

According to a study conducted by Philomila Tsoukala, a lecturer at Georgetown University, 75% of Greek companies are family-owned, and even then, youths start earning a living between the ages of 30-35. What's going on?

Five ways to make a tabloid out of France Soir (à la 'The Sun')

('ruth gray',) — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 11:00:00 -0000

In 2009, British photographer Jason Fraser, inspired by The Sun, helped revitalise a 'grand old lady (which) has been allowed to slide'. Add a 25-year-old Russian owner with business model aspirations of turning substance into trash and a fired editor, and one of France's national instutions has a problem

Birgitta Jonsdottir, Iceland's woman politician blogger

('English language version of cafebabel.com',) — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 10:30:00 -0000

The politician, blogger and Wikileaks ‘friend’ from Reykjavik, 43, proposed a law which aims to convert the island into a model of digital transparency and safe haven for journalists; it was passed in June. Interview with a mother-of-one who is ‘everything but your traditional politician’

Corruption, crime and journalism in Europe

('Sarah Truesdale',) — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 12:27:06 -0000

Political corruption in Europe is the drama of the season. Confronted by media revelations, the governments of Old Europe are criticising, even muzzling the media space whose influence they fear. Not all countries react in the same way: in Great Britain, Germany and Poland, media investigations pressure governments to fire people. In France and Italy, the news isn’t causing a stir at all

Six tips: tweet like Lady Gaga

('Sarah Truesdale',) — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 18:00:00 -0000

Do you have your iphone 4 at the ready? Of course you do! Would you like to boost your virtual profile? Use Twitter! Any way you like. Here is some advice taken from the most followed Twitter profiles in Europe: from Lady Gaga to 10 Downing Street

Berlusconi's Italy: elections soon?

('euro topics',) — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 16:45:00 -0000

Italian junior justice minister Giacomo Caliendo, a suspect in a criminal inquiry, narrowly avoided an opposition motion in the lower house of the Italian parliament calling for him to be sacked. Had it gone through, the government could have fallen. The political pressure is rising, though the Irish, Slovenian and Italian press say new elections are unlikely

Summer of riots: French of 'foreign origin' to lose citizenship, president warns

('Sarah Truesdale',) — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 16:30:00 -0000

'French nationality should be stripped from anybody who has threatened the life of a police officer or anybody involved in public policing,' announced Nicolas Sarkozy on 30 July. A Frenchman looks at how the European media react

Athens in video: German cliches on the Greeks

('English language version of cafebabel.com',) — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 11:15:00 -0000

A Berlin-based Italian video journalist heads to the Greek capital to film social reality under the stranglehold of the crisis. A series of opinions range from Germano-Greek tensions to the weakness of the Greek state, as well as ideas for future solutions. Watch the ten-minute video in two parts (in English with French subtitles)

Internet platform Wikileaks divides EU media

('eurotopics',) — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 14:20:24 -0000

On 25 July, the Sweden-based organisation co-operated with three major media sources to publish secret reports about the war in Afghanistan. The Austrian, British, Swiss and Estonian press disagree on this new transparency

Fired public radio satirists - 'Berlusconisation France'?

('Nicola Potter',) — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 12:00:04 -0000

Censor one person and someone else will speak for them. That’s what happened on 1 July in front of La Maison de la Radio in Paris, where disappointed listeners and exasperated France Inter workers protested against the sacking of morning show comedians Stéphane Guillon and Didier Porte. Flashback

Arno Jullien: 'erasmus should be obligatory to compare simple things in life'

('Nicola Potter',) — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 17:00:00 -0000

He collaborated with Yann-Arthus Bertrand on '6 Billion Others', and he's back with Europalive. The 52-minute film from his travels in 24 EU countries over two months gives 'Europe a human face'. With no financial support, the 32-year-old from Cannes filmed the homeless to company execs to immerse himself in their perceptions, loves and hates

Greek, Romanian, Albanian: why are these racist terms in Europe?

('Helen Swain',) — Mon, 17 May 2010 10:30:00 -0000

It's a fine line between risky jokes and racist innuendo. Those who manage to be funny while staying on the right side of that line are pretty smart. Nevertheless, at a time when calls to reject that protean scapegoat, the Other, are growing throughout the four corners of the continent, a little self-examination in Europe might not be a bad thing

Catherine Ashton, Ashford or Ashley?

('Nabeelah Shabbir',) — Thu, 06 May 2010 12:00:00 -0000

Never mind that she went to earthquake-stricken Haiti six weeks late, or that she missed a ministerial conference, or that she's not David Miliband, or that she can't speak French. Let's begin with the fact that some struggle to remember even the name of the first ever EU foreign policy chief. Maybe it's the title 'baroness' which throws everyone

The Office, Spiral: tour of European TV shows, American style

('Nicola Potter',) — Mon, 03 May 2010 11:10:00 -0000

A lack of resources, ambition or originality mean that national TV series across Europe pale into insignificance beside hugely successful American shows such as House or Dexter. There are however some exceptions

TV: can Europeans reverse the dominant American trend?

('Dave Keating',) — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 17:45:00 -0000

As an American, there’s few places you can go to escape your home country. Sure, you can trek to an uncontacted tribe in the middle of the Amazon, or climb to a mountaintop in Tibet. But if you’re anywhere in civilisation and you turn on a TV, chances are it won’t take you more than a few minutes to find some American programming. It’s everywhere

The European politicians who insult journalists

('Amanda Mulligan',) — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 08:00:00 -0000

Media and politics has always been a love-hate thing. From Livingstone to Berlusconi, a brief outline of some of the most memorable insults that Europe’s elected officials have directed at both defenceless and sometimes-deserving journalists

Guide to Twitter tongue

('Nicola Potter',) — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 10:30:00 -0000

Tweet tweet. During both world wars carrier pigeons relayed short, sometimes vital messages, backwards and forwards when the electricity lines were out. Today, it’s Twitter’s 140 character posts which play the role of social network messenger…as long as you can master its language. So what are the basic ABCs of European Twitter?

Europe falls in press freedom rankings

('James Friscia',) — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 13:00:00 -0000

If the old continent believes it still represents the paradigm of press freedom, then it is in for a rude awakening: in the worldwide rankings of freedom of the press published by Reporters Without Borders, many European nations are in a state of free fall. Yet a defence organises for what Kant called 'freedom of the pen'

Sarkozy affair: why the Brit media and co were interested

('Andrew Burgess',) — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 12:00:00 -0000

Whether it is fact or fiction, the rumours of extramarital romantic affairs relating to the French president first-born on Twitter has impassioned the European media, despite the notable absence of newspaper treatment in France. Are European news networks coming to the rescue of national censorship?

Europarl TV: 'technology is more fast-paced than the institutions'

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 12:15:00 -0000

In September 2008, the TV channel started streaming parliamentary sessions and news features on MEPs and their speeches on the European parliament’s webpage. The challenge is to give the institutions a human face - press service chief Jean-Yves Loog tells us how

EU-US: 'If this was Formula One, Europe would still be working on its motor'

('euro topics',) — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 12:30:00 -0000

US president Barack Obama will not be attending the EU-USA summit planned for May. The official explanation given is that he wishes to devote himself to domestic problems. The German, Belgian and Czech press, however, suspects that he doesn't want to waste time in Europe, which still hasn't found a collective voice

France: burqa bandits, burqa ban

('euro topics',) — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 15:37:42 -0000

On 26 January, a French parliamentary committee recommended that the so-called 'burqa', or Muslim full-body veil, be banned. While this could check the spread of fundamentalism, it is also humiliating for those affected by it argue German, French and Swiss commentators

It's late 2009, and Europeans are getting into a tizzle about religion

('euro topics',) — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 13:08:44 -0000

The Swiss have banned new minarets, the European court of human rights has banned Italy from having crucifixes in every classroom. A Swedish school has rejected veils, a Dutch polytechnic shuns Christmas trees and a study claims religion stems from insecurity. The Dutch, Swedish, UK, Hungarian and Bulgarian press react

In a country of 400, 000 muslims, the Swiss vote to ban minarets

('euro topics',) — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 12:40:42 -0000

On 29 November, the people of Switzerland voted to ban the construction of new minarets. The referendum initiated by the Swiss people's party and the conservative federal democratic union has dealt a severe blow to religious peace in the country, write the Estonian, Swiss, Portuguese and Austrian press

Olga Rodríguez: 'Journalists tend to be very individualistic'

('Helen Swain',) — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 10:43:33 -0000

On a famed terrace close to Madrid’s Palacio Real (Royal Palace) at nightfall, the 34-year-old Spanish award-winning journalist talks about two of her passions, the Middle East and journalism

Czech internet forums, KSCM: disillusionment and nostalgia for communist past

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 14:26:47 -0000

Two decades ago, the Czechs were clinking their keys to bring down the communist regime. Today, the communist party is winning some support back as some claim they they lived better under communism. Others allege that the same people hold power and that totalitarian practices persist. We scour three major Czech news website forums to weigh up the tone of the people

Tories, Klaus and Kaczyński: EU 'three kings' vs Lisbon treaty

('euro topics',) — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 11:55:20 -0000

The eurosceptic Pole Lech Kaczyński plans to sign the EU reform document in the next few days, Czech president Václav Klaus refuses and British conservative leader David Cameron again promises his country a referendum if he is elected prime minister in 2010 and the treaty has still not taken effect. The Irish, Czech, German and Hungarian press react

Portuguese Barroso: this is your man for Europe, again!

('euro topics',) — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 13:17:12 -0000

On 16 September, the European parliament voted José Manuel Barroso in for a second term as European commission president, with 382 votes for, 219 against and 117 abstentions. Barroso promised to advocate social policies, but the Portuguese, Belgian, French and Polish press was sceptical

'L’Européen': new French magazine breaks down concept of 'Europe'

('Aatish Pattni',) — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 10:00:00 -0000

It's defined by a 'French-speaking readership aged between 35-55 who travel at least once a year in Europe'. It launched as a print magazine before the European elections in June 2009, its cover gracing an image of Penelope Cruz amongst others. Now the English e-version of 'The European' is en route, offering you the chance to get ‘better acquainted’ with your EU neighbours. More from chief editor Renard de Chazoumes

FrauTV, Emma: women top the media tower in Cologne

('Lindsey Evans',) — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 11:00:00 -0000

Over a third of German national TV programmes are produced in Cologne. Alongside the eight channels based on the banks of the Rhine, in ‘media city’, are the offices of the young, resolutely feminist FrauTV and the militant magazine Emma

European elections night: I was watching TV

('Nabeelah Shabbir',) — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 16:55:58 -0000

The night that most centre-left governments took their batterings, you might have caught a show about an unemployed mother-of-two in Spain or the final of 'The Apprentice' in the UK. Glance at the programmes for which viewers gave up the EU election coverage ghost on the evening of 7 June; results came out at 8pm, signalling a lower voter turnout than 2004

EU elections 2009 record abstention: no ‘europeanisation’ of countries

('Hayley Worsley-Carter',) — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 12:42:17 -0000

A participation level of just 43.5% is the product of a European election campaign that was too focused on national issues. Mainstream media makes European politics seem a depressing subject, leaving only the web to provide us with passionate and beneficial debates surrounding the concept of Europe

Giovanni di Lorenzo: 'the values which inspired the creation of the EU are pathetic today'

('Nabeelah Shabbir',) — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 11:30:23 -0000

We speak to an Italian born in Sweden, raised in Rome, who moved to Hannover aged eleven, speaking little German. Today he is the director of German weekly Die Zeit, co-editor of Der Tagesspiegel, author of a bestseller and a TV presenter. We meet in Berlin to discuss the crisis of a marriage of 27 countries on the eve of the European elections between 4 – 7 June 2009: the passion is dead and not enough economic gains to hold it together

Gerhard Glück:'I live a middle-class life and make middle-class art'

('Andrew Christie',) — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 12:06:56 -0000

Something’s not right in next door’s garden – at home with the award-winning German caricaturist, 65, who paints miniature scenes from across the Swiss border

62% of Europeans aren't aware of the EU elections taking place

('euro topics',) — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 16:32:38 -0000

Just seven weeks before the European parliament election 62% of voters are not even aware it will take place. According to a Eurobarometer study, only 28% of those elegible to vote intend to cast their ballots. Are Europeans weary of Europe?

Austrian tabloids make global headlines with Joseph Fritzl, incest father

('Lucy Davies',) — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 14:00:00 -0000

Shortly before the incest trial begins on 16 March, the Vienna theatre production of 'Pension F.' is bringing the oppressive atmosphere surrounding the Fritzl case onto the stage, meaning it is not only 'the man on the street’s paper' who is discussing what happened in that cellar

The EU puts the GDR flag up in Brussels

Mon, 09 Mar 2009 12:44:09 -0000

An awkward EU faux pas - for the European green capital ceremony on 2 March in Brussels, where Hamburg won capital of 2011, an ancient GDR flag was put up to represent Germany - ups. Latest titbit of news from Brussels

Do you know when the EU elections are? Nor do 75% of Europeans

('Annie Rutherford',) — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 15:00:00 -0000

The paradox in this is that Ireland remains one of the EU member states most interested in this election, despite hindering the ratification of the Lisbon treaty

Europolis: towards a European public opinion?

('Sarah Gray',) — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 12:00:00 -0000

Is it the business of an elite set who are up-to-date on economic and political developments, or the exclusive right of the ‘Erasmus generation?’ Views from our correspondents in Brussels

Mick Jagger advises the EU commission

('Hayley Worsley-Carter',) — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 12:28:00 -0000

Regulating internet music sales and multimedia content on the web, counterfeit medicine and parliament television – the latest news from Brussels. Weekly edition

EU reporting bad Belgian news

('jonathan mellor',) — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 16:49:12 -0000

Belgian national media is not impressed by the European coverage of political crisis. The presence of the European institutions, it believes, is impeding its autonomy

Meru - new Second Life

Thu, 06 Dec 2007 08:00:00 -0000

The alternative to Second Life has Europe in its sights, according to Vladlen Koltun, a 27 year old professor from Stanford

German supernanny: 'emotainment'

('Sophie Paterson',) — Wed, 10 Oct 2007 12:00:00 -0000

European audience figures are exploding for so-called 'Emotainment' programmes, devoted to the daily lives of the average person

European TV formats: kidneys and neighbours

('Nabeelah Shabbir',) — Wed, 10 Oct 2007 12:00:00 -0000

Between live kidney donors in Holland, Model Mosque 2007 in the UK and racism over German garden fences, the precipices of European reality TV formats

Georges Marion: France as the centre of the world

('Andrew Burgess',) — Fri, 21 Sep 2007 00:00:00 -0000

The French journalist and long time foreign correspondent of the daily 'Le Monde', 64, evokes the subjectivity and relativity of the job, insisting on the importance of an identifiable Europe

Orban, Solana, Kroes stir it up

Thu, 06 Sep 2007 12:00:00 -0000

Four of the central political decision makers who will generate the most work for the press over the course of the coming months