A European Perspective: the Pan-European newsroom where AI and editors work together

Last week, over 30 editors, technical experts and developers from across Europe gathered at EBU’s Brussels office to kick off the next phase of A European Perspective (AEP). Editors from Sweden to Czechia, from Ukraine to France - and many countries beyond - came together to discuss how to help bring A European Perspective to new audiences across the continent and ways to enhance the offer to public service media and to their audiences. 

The meeting was an important milestone, marking the next phase since new EU funding that has been awarded to the project. It was the moment to take stock of progress so far and to discuss improvements to the current offer of A European Perspective - the Digital News Platform, as well as to advance on planned new developments, such as innovative ways of content distribution and new editorial formats. 

Launched in 2021, A European Perspective currently has 20 participating members and is an online exchange for reliable news. Editors across Europe choose stories from a curated selection of the best trusted journalism from across the continent and republish them in their own language with the help of AI. 

The collaborative approach of a European Perspective and the co-working between media organisations is vital to the project’s success in bringing diverse voices to wider audiences. Members attending the 1.5 day event were able to share how A European Perspective works for them, which news stories resonate most with their audiences and their tips for finding new audiences for their content in different countries. They also explored innovative use of AI, which will be deployed in the project, hand-in-hand with editorial oversight.  

And it is clear, from the reports presented by the A European Perspective editorial team, that the content that is shared via the platform is met with a strong, positive response from audiences: 

• Close to 50,000 stories have been contributed to AEP’s digital news platform (equivalent to more than 40 per day) 

• Currently, those stories are being published in over 50 widgets on participating news organisations' websites.  

• AEP has garnered 14 million reads 

Asun Gomez-Bueno, RTVE (Spain) and Vice-Chair of the EBU’s News Committee, said: “Today’s meeting was a great opportunity to meet with the people we work with daily – we all have the same challenges to overcome and it's reassuring to exchange and find solutions together. A European Perspective gives our content more visibility and enables us to reach audiences that we could not reach without it. It gives us unique access to news material that we wouldn’t have outside AEP.” 

Wouter Gekiere, Head of EBU’s Brussels Office, commented: “This meeting was the opportunity to bring together public service media newsrooms and work towards A European Perspective that will bring an even better offer to audiences across Europe. With the support of our members and their teams, we’re proud to be contributing to providing trusted content, which captures and multiplies perspectives and voices from across Europe.” 

Liz Corbin, EBU’s Director of News, added: “Rapidly advancing technology, like AI, can enhance news provision in innovative ways. And A European Perspective is at the cutting edge, through deploying AI tools, in a transparent way, to give audiences access to content which is relevant, resonates and, overall, contributes to the development of a democratic European public sphere.” 

Project consortium led by AISBL EBU-UER consists of: Radio Télévision Belge de la Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles (Belgium), Fonden Constructive Foundation (Denmark), Agence France-Presse (France), France Televisions (France), Bayerischer Rundfunk (Germany), Latvian Television (Latvia), Rádio e Televisão de Portugal (Portugal), and Corporacion de Radio Y Television Española (Spain). It will work in partnership with České televize (Czechia), Eesti Rahvusringhääling (Estonia), Georgian Public Broadcaster (Georgia), Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation (Greece), Ríkisútvarpið (Iceland), Raidio Teilifis Eireann (Ireland), Lithuanian National Radio and Television (Lithuania), Sveriges Radio (Sweden), European Broadcasting Union (Switzerland), Schweizerischen Radio- und Fernsehgesellschaft (Switzerland), Suspilne (Ukraine). 

A European Perspective: Digital News Platforms that Connect Europe Through Trusted News (DNP Europe) is co-financed by the European Union’s Preparatory Action – “European Media Platforms”