Executive Summary
Euronews can be considered as one of the most experimental news channels in Europe. As its new motto (‘going global’) suggests, it seeks to step into international broadcasting and reach out to a global audience. Euronews aims towards achieving a transnational perspective on news; it does not focus on European stories only. The channel has adopted a policy to transform itself into a public diplomacy tool. For this reason Euronews has taken on a strategy to practice public diplomacy by taking up non-European languages as means for targeting non- European audiences. The rationale behind changing the structure of Euronews is listed as follows:
- The channel aimed towards building a European identity which was distinguishable from other cultures.
- It particularly wanted to eradicate media hegemony which was a result of American Imperialism.
- Euronews sought to achieve the status of a pan-national news channel that covered a wide range of programs to cater to a global audience.
- One of the major goals of the channel was to maintain neutrality and avoid viewpoints that were largely “European”.
The search for a ‘European Soul’ drove the change in media and broadcast practices. The change was particularly driven by ‘American Imperialism’ which posed threat to the European community. The entire media was characterized by American norms and culture. The idea behind launching a pan-national news channel was to cater to a wider audience, including programs about politics, entertainment, cultural shows, advertising, etc.
One of the greatest aims of the channel was to reach out to the widest audience possible. Therefore, the channel decided upon broadcasting multilingually. Today, Euronews is broadcasted in 12 different languages to promote and support cultural diversity and pluralism. It continues to grow and attract audiences on a global scale and not just Europe alone. The success of the channel can be seen by its distribution spread which is higher than that of BBC and CNN merged together.
The only challenge faced by Euronews is maintaining a worldwide viewpoint rather than restricting it to a European perspective. It tries to constantly work towards retaining its impartiality and objectivity; the qualities that led the channel to achieve success of such stature. The article aims to identify the challenges and pitfalls associated with the channel and how its investments signify the channel’s efforts to fulfill its global aspirations.
