The European Correspondent’s quest to build a Europe-wide media outlet

Since November 2022, The European Correspondent has been building a pan-European media model. The project was born from the conviction that journalism across borders could be done differently. The idea originated with Philippe Kramer and Julius Fintelmann, who were later joined by Carla Allenbach. What started as a small, volunteer-supported project has now grown into an ambitious news outlet with a professional newsroom on a payroll that just received significant funding from the European Commission.

The Fix discussed building a newsletter-first media for the whole continent with The European Correspondent’s publisher Philippe Kramer.

No playbook of a European media outlet

For the three co-founders, there was no pre-existing blueprint for building a media outlet that serves an entire continent. “There's no playbook on how to do a European media outlet yet,” Kramer notes. “It's a lot of trial and error and obviously coming closer and closer to the thing that we think brings value to our community.”

On November 28, 2022, The European Correspondent was officially launched with its first edition. Almost three years later, it is built on three newsletters: a daily edition about Europe, a weekly edition on the European institutions, and a weekly selection of their best stories. Overall, almost 70,000 people are subscribed.

The media outlet also runs accounts on social media. Instagram is their biggest platform, with 53,000 subscribers and up to three posts daily. TEC also runs a Facebook page, which has 26,000 followers, and LinkedIn with 13,000.

Organised by young people, and with a big share of volunteers being young people, Kramer initially thought that the audience would naturally be mostly from a similar age group as well. It turned out to be quite different, with all generations being quite equally represented. “We've been really surprised by how many 70-year-old people read us. I am regularly in calls with readers, and we have an older French couple who otherwise sometimes read the New York Times. They talk about what we're publishing, and we have a very different style from the New York Times. Seeing that that still works, that is quite remarkable,” observes Kramer.

A project built by volunteers

The early success of the outlet was built entirely on the enthusiasm and dedication of its volunteer base. Kramer describes it as a “small miracle” to have attracted so many journalists from across Europe. “It was incredibly hard to find money to support the project, but I think journalists immediately understood that there is a potential and that they can also benefit from participating in this project,” he explains.

Kramer credits Julius Fintelmann as a person behind this process. Where did they find people? Student programmes, LinkedIn, and word-of-mouth. “Erasmus Mundus programme was very helpful, and LinkedIn was helpful, too. Then you try to, in every way you can, to ask if someone from your neighbouring country knows someone who can then know someone who has a dog who knows someone”, comments Kramer.

He believes that the opportunity to collaborate with peers from different countries and report on pan-European stories was a powerful incentive for journalists to join. Throughout more than two years, the outlet has worked with a pool of around 340 volunteers who contributed to its content.

For many, it was a way to gain valuable experience and build their portfolios. Kramer highlights an example of a well-established Swiss journalist from a state broadcaster who joined the EC to expand his skill set. Kramer believes that the project’s success is owed to the people who dedicated their time to it. “These people really made the difference... if it weren't for these people, The European Correspondent would be, as I like to call it, in the graveyard of nice, but theoretical ideas,” he says.

What does it mean to do European journalism

The lesson of having a diverse audience, such as the elderly French couple mentioned, solidified the belief that a European audience is defined not by age or location, but by a shared interest in what is going on around you. Kramer thinks that at the core of their journalism is telling stories that explain “how the world around you works.”

He believes that "when you can find that kind of story, it will resonate.” This focus on audience needs rather than demographics has become central to their strategy. “We have worked for a long time on our audience needs framework to make sure that the stories are relevant to people throughout the entire European continent,” the publisher notes. And he also briefly mentions that the team has training programmes for its journalists on how to do European journalism.

Another challenge in this concept is language. Kramer shares that they have less audience from the countries where English isn’t so widely known. In November this year, The European Correspondent will have an edition in German, and in 2026, the team is launching French, Spanish, Italian, Polish, and Ukrainian editions.

Kramer describes two reasons for the Ukrainian language edition. Firstly, Ukraine is “obviously where a lot of Europe's future is decided” and where a lot of new ideas and impulses come that shape Europe. Secondly, Kramer has realised through talks with Ukrainians living in Europe that they want to understand the larger context of the continent so that they can navigate their lives better and have more clarity of where Europe stands today. “And I think that makes it a very interesting audience,” notes Kramer.

A transition to a sustainable model

This year, The European Correspondent received a 24-month grant of 2.16 million euros from the European Commission, enabling the project to hire a full-time newsroom. TEC now has a team of desk editors, managers, data journalists, and developers. The outlet is open for paid pitches from freelancers.

The founders are clear about their goal for these two years – to build a sustainable monetisation model. “The deal is structured so that we maintain full editorial independence, and we can bring our journalism to a broader public. The biggest change: We're expanding into six more languages. [...] This grant will also help us with the not-so-glamorous part of building an international media outlet: Marketing spending, more project coordination resources, developer salaries, and more,” stated on their website.

Kramer explains that they see community-supported newsroom as their ideal model: “We want to be able to be independent of that funding and really have a community that sustainably supports our newsroom.” This approach is inspired by publications like The Guardian, the Swiss outlet Republik, or the Dutch project of a similar name, De Correspondent, all of which have proven that a dedicated community can provide a stable financial foundation. Kramer is confident that they can achieve this within two years, a timeframe he acknowledges is “ambitious”.

Source of the cover photo: courtesy of The European Correspondent