Creating a European identity is not only a matter of treaties, currencies, and borders. It is also a matter of people knowing and understanding each other.
Euronews journalists had this in mind when the channel started broadcasting 30 years ago. 5 languages, but one goal: to give Europe a voice, in a world in constant connection.
“At that time international news was a monopoly of the United States, with CNN. Eurovision gave life to an initiative that aimed to create a European channel with 2 purposes. First, breaking the monopoly; and secondly, to help people get to know each other better”, says Beatriz Beiras, Euronews journalist.
Today, Euronews reaches tens of millions of people in 160 countries around the world. But then again, setting up the station and managing it was not easy.
“They told us: you have 2 months to set up the television. There were cables lying around and holes in the ground right up to the last minute. Nothing was ready. The technicians were all young. We hadn’t seen any sleep and were working 12 hours straight a day. We were the ones who put everything in place. Nobody told us anything”, says Isabelle Martin, manager of the Euronews chain.
But despite the creation of the spirit of Euronews, the first journalists faced the challenges that arose together.
“We felt proud because we felt that we were building something, a new media in Europe. It was nice to go to the newsroom and hear people speak English, Spanish, French, Italian and German,” says Aurora Velez, Euronews journalist.
“It was living proof of different countries building Europe and it was very important for me”, says Christian Boudarel, Euronews journalist.
Christian also shared how different news editing was at first, as everything was on tape. Whereas today, editing techniques have changed radically, except for one element that has remained constant.
“We must be able to communicate to the public what is important, in a fair, professional and independent manner. This has not changed”, emphasizes Beatriz Beiras, Euronews journalist.
With around 400 journalists from over 30 different countries, Euronews remains the eyes and ears of Europe.
