Comments on: Guest blogger: British media and the Misses

By: M van den Broeke

M van den Broeke — Fri, 29 May 2009 22:06:08 +0000

http://www.ep-webeditors.eu/2009/03/guest-blogger-british-media-and-the-misses/

By: Marjory

Marjory — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 17:11:03 +0000

@Bruno
My heart never sinks when journalists call. On the contrary: I wish journalists would call more often to check their facts. Recently, at a debate in Brussels on the crisis in the media, Flemish editor-in-chief and journalist Yves Desmedt told the story of how someone published a story (without calling him) that he was leaving his newspaper De Morgen and how within an hour the same story appeared on 48 different websites! I admit I totally relate to this, for it is precisely this which makes my heart sink. One newspaper publishes an unchecked story and it spreads like a bushfire. But, of course, equally heart-sinking are journalists who do call and then completely ignore what you have told them because it doesn’t fit their story even if that is incorrect.

On the pension fund: I cannot judge of course what other information you have had and therefore if the information I have given you was less or more relevant. I do know that I have replied to several of your mails and messages and have so far been able to reply to your queries.

To say that the Parliament is secretive I find bordering on the ludicrous. If there is any organisation or institution in the world where never ever remains a secret, it is the European Parliament. In very rare cases, the press service can indeed not give out certain documents as they are confidential – but that has never stopped others from doing so….

By: Bruno Waterfield

Bruno Waterfield — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 12:45:19 +0000

I think Writing for (y)EU is a really good initiative. I agree with Nosemonkey that many more people in the weird world of EU officialdom should take the plunge.
Jory could be a good example. She gives as good as she gets. I guess I am one of those callers that make her heart sink.
I am not going to comment on her thoughts above – it was one of my colleagues who did the gender story (which I thought was rather fun) so I had better tread carefully.
But coming from the other side there is a problem. The European Parliament’s authorities are a bastion of secretive, sometimes paranoid, behaviour – especially the over powerful bureau, which often seems to conduct its affairs independently of MEPs.
Over a few weeks I have been trying to find out about shortfalls and a possible bailout of the second pension scheme for MEPs.
Some of the answers I received from officials have been disingenuous to say the least. Others have been positively misleading.
We waited before doing the story until we had documents and had spoken to the people (MEPs on the whole) at the heart of it all. Others did not. None of the relevant information I used came from the press service.
Jory is welcome to deplore terrible types like myself and our restless search for stories. But, let us remember, she represents an institution that often does its utmost to make sure that stories are not published at all – regardless of the facts.

By: Topics about Culture » Writing for (y)EU | Guest blogger: British media and the Misses

Fri, 27 Mar 2009 16:25:34 +0000

[...] Steve added an interesting post today on Writing for (y)EU | Guest blogger: British media and the MissesHere’s a small reading… with the difficulties they often encounter with the widely divergent usage of gender-specific words in an environment of 23 different languages and 27 different cultures. In Dutch, the word for “Miss” has become completely obsolete. … [...]

By: Theo

Theo — Sat, 21 Mar 2009 13:16:59 +0000

Haha so true, but you have to remember that the average reading level of the Sun is that of a 9 year old.

Makes it difficult for then to explain why the European Court of Human Rights is not part of the EU…

By: Nosemonkey

Nosemonkey — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 08:54:17 +0000

If any more colleagues fancy giving blogging a shot, tell them to get in touch with either me or just about any of the other long-running EU bloggers, and we’d happily help them get set up and give them a few pointers.

One of the (many) problems with the EU’s entire communications strategy is that there is hardly any sense of the personalities of the “Eurocrats”, making the whole thing seem even more remote and inaccessible that the interminable jargon. There’s also (currently) very little in the way of commentary on EU affairs from insiders – be it researchers to MEPs, commission officials, whatever – available on the internet.

That’s where this initiative remains a good one – but we need more.