Dr Konrad Bleyer-Simon is lead researcher of STOA’s project “A European news streaming platform. Study on European added value and governance”.
Could you elaborate on the concept of a European news streaming platform and outline the potential benefits it could offer to EU citizens?
Konrad Bleyer-Simon: The platform is rooted in the concept of the European public sphere, creating a communicative space where EU citizens can exchange views on shared challenges and understand each other better across borders. Rather than focusing on Brussels-based EU policy discussions, the streaming platform project aims to help citizens learn about different perspectives from other member states, many of which are also relevant when it comes to understanding the positions that shape EU decision-making and identifying shared interests. News serves as the starting point, as it is better to start small, with a limited offer. Cross-border news sharing is already guaranteed by EU law, while other kinds of content could pose challenges, but the platform could eventually expand to include entertainment content, documentaries, and even citizen-produced material.
Who would pay for this platform; would citizens need to subscribe or pay a fee to access it?
Konrad Bleyer-Simon: The platform will be free to access, first, to avoid the elitist nature of paywalls and, second, because participating public service media already share their content for free. To compete with big international platforms that appear free but exploit user data and spread mis- and disinformation, the project needs to offer an ethical alternative funded publicly by EU budget. Importantly, this funding would cover only the infrastructure for sharing content and translations across the EU, not content creation itself, since member state media companies would provide existing content. This approach maintains the public service mission while ensuring broad accessibility to all interested citizens.
What would success look like for this platform – how many users would justify the investment?
Konrad Bleyer-Simon: Success would be measured by having a functional, user-friendly platform with participation from media outlets across all EU member states, rather than focusing on immediate user numbers like 10 or 100 million at launch. The key metric for us is building sufficient community support and willingness to sustain the project for several years, as public service projects take time to gain audiences and achieve long-term viability. Participating media outlets could help promote the service to their existing audiences, while EU institutions could provide additional support if the project is prioritized. Ideally, growth would gradually happen through word-of-mouth once the platform reaches a few million viewers across the EU.
How might this platform help EU citizens living in other member states stay informed about local politics and elections?
Konrad Bleyer-Simon: The platform would help EU expats who have voting rights in their host countries but lack access to local political information in their native language. For example, an expat living and working in Lithuania has the right to participate in local elections but cannot exercise this right effectively without understanding local issues and discussions. The platform would provide access to relevant local political information and enable informed participation in both local and EU elections in their host country. This would help expats understand the positions and representations of candidates they’re voting for.
How will the quality of news be guaranteed? What kind of media outlets should participate?
Konrad Bleyer-Simon: The platform would initially include only public service media to safeguard content integrity, with potential subsequent expansion to private media producers. State-controlled media would be excluded, and safeguards would ensure participating outlets comply with EU media regulation and self-regulation requirements. National media outlets can apply to join, but approval depends on their ability to uphold European values rather than selection by the platform organizers. While EU media landscapes theoretically shouldn’t include state-controlled outlets, the reality makes screening mechanisms essential for maintaining editorial independence.
What safeguards would prevent political interference from either the EU or national governments?
Konrad Bleyer-Simon: The platform’s public funding covers only infrastructure and technology, not content creation, making the project’s operations essentially nonpolitical, since decisions involve technical rather than editorial matters. The independence of content is safeguarded through an independent board governing the platform. How exactly the governance and decision-making would take place will depend on the participants of the project – there are many possible ways. We could, for example, envision media outlets participating in a decision-making process, where a majority can exclude or temporarily suspend outlets that spread propaganda or in other ways violate community guidelines. This peer review system among participating outlets, combined with clear community guidelines, would help maintain editorial independence.