EBU-backed content sharing news initiative sees strong growth in views

A content-sharing European news service supported by 11 national broadcasters has won over 23.5 million views in the five months, since it was launched, according to public broadcaster organsiation the EBU.

Launched in July this year, A European Perspective is designed to meet demand for trusted news against the backdrop of conspiracy-fuelled disinformation campaigns and populist rhetoric, according to the pubcasters’ organisation.

The service is hosted by public service media from Belgium (RTBF), Finland (Yle), France (France Télévisions), Germany (BR-ARD), Ireland (RTÉ), Italy (RAI), Portugal (RTP), Spain (RTVE), Sweden (Sveriges Radio) and Switzerland (SWI swissinfo.ch) as well as the Franco-German and European broadcaster Arte.

Over the past five months, articles published through dedicated feeds on the broadcasters’ websites have been viewed nearly 24 million times, the EBU said.

The initiative served as a test-bed for AI and machine-learning tools including the EBU’s EuroVOX, designed to ensure that audiences get the content they want in a language they understand, and the PEACH system for personalization and recommendations.

Eric Scherer, Chair, EBU News Committee and Director of Innovation and International Affairs at France Télévisions, said, “This pioneering initiative allows public service media to open new windows for our fellow citizens while others are busy closing them.”

Delphine Ernotte Cunci, president of the EBU, which coordinates the project as part of the EBU Group with its office in Brussels, said: “The ability of European public service media to provide quality news from other countries within Europe and to make it available in multiple European languages is not only a natural extension of our public service remit, but also serves as an important corrective for the (largely unchecked) dissemination and distribution of fake news and disinformation through social media.”