Wasting their time …

The EU commission has unveiled a cunning plan to bring more coverage of EU affairs to television, radio and multimedia platforms.

It will bribe encourage audiovisual media professionals to create and take part in European audiovisual networks and has proposed a network of TV stations to complement the network of radio stations launched on 1 April this year.

The commission is also to increase the amount of raw audiovisual material which it already provides free of charge to audiovisual media professionals and will increase its own production of videos to illustrate or explain EU policies.

This is on the basis that TV and radio channels remain the preferred medium of information for most people so that, if the commission wants to reach a larger audience, it must go down this route.

However, as always, it is wasting its time – and our money. Although, in Eurobarometer surveys financed by the commission, "EU citizens" express a desire to be better informed about EU issues, the fact is that there are plenty of information sources available – not least this blog.

The main reason why people are ill-informed is because they do not want to be informed, or cannot be bothered to find out – not least because EU affairs are so damn boring. Furthermore, even if they could care less, their national media establishments are much more interested in domestic issues.

Nothing the commission can do will change all this, but it does mean that there will be a lot more money sloshing around, some of it to find its way into the pockets of that band of journalists who will push the EU line whenever they have the opportunity.

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