Commissione Europea
Go Local – The Local Media
in the North of Italy
Communicating Europe – Going Local
Brussels, 5 June 2007
Matteo Fornara
Rappresentanza a Milano della Commissione Europea
NORTHERN ITALY
• 8 regions
• 48 provinces
• Population: 25 million
• Local newspapers:
– diffusion: 4/1 vs national press
– Big influence on local public opinion
– Specific political situation
2
GO LOCAL – THE MEDIA
2006
• 60 newspapers’ HQ visited in
46 provinces
• Meeting with the Director
• Local dimension of the EU
news
• EU dimension of the local news
3
THE MEDIA
• Different structures
– dimension
– news coverage (only local vs
local + national & international)
– website (or not)
–…
… Our task:
answer to their needs, not ours!
4
ACTION
• Direct collaboration REP – media
started
• Every week: 2-3 EU-related news
sent to each of them
– on issues of direct interest for them
– In an adapted language (no
bureaucratic, avoid references to the
unknown world of Brussels…)
5
RESULTS
• Publication in various ways
(episodical; periodical; specific
places)
• Feed-back and requests from them
(both the media and the readers)
• Specific actions for journalists
organised
6
ACTIONS
• Seminars for journalists (Turin,
Piacenza, Trieste, Rimini, Pavia..)
• Visits to Brussels (next:
September)
• Joint initiatives media – REP schools
• Collaboration with the ED (top:
Piemonte, Turin)
7
CHALLENGES
• Adapt the product even more
to the specific needs
• Widen the impact on other
media (TV, radio, web)
• Give continuity: no end date
(ressources to Milan)
8