Top diplomats, spearheaded by the Czech abroad Minister Jan Lipavský, huddled together during the latest EU abroad ministers’ gathering to discuss Trump slashing funds for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. Causing as much panic, astonishment and confusion, as his another moves of the second Trump administration, this US withdrawal from the European information space could nevertheless, be besides a stimuli for another age. So, what if we halt for a moment, take a deep breath after yet another erratic move, and consider the gutting the outlet as Trump does? What if sustaining a Prague-based and continent-wide media home has actually no sense for the US any longer?
What if this is not another sign of chaos but an opportunity? What if this is simply a chance to grow and make further?
What if we admit that Trump has done Europe a favour – and actually rather a large one?
We ought to see things beyond historical reflexes and conventional habits. The current US administration is retiring the country from participation in many of its usual global endeavours. It besides clearly cares small about Europe, which pushes us besides towards a designation that this crusade is part of a larger paradigm. We must come to terms that in certain sectors the US just should be replaced by Europe. Realizing in the past 4 months that we cannot outsource our safety guarantees, civilian society support and humanitarian aid any longer, the news media sector is clearly the next area where policies, values and backing must be reconsidered by Europeans. This is especially actual if we want to be seen as global players.
In this sense, as much as the slashing of RFE/RL is simply a tragic event and part of a historical disjuncture in transatlantic relations, it is besides an unprecedented chance for Europe to take work and safe reliable information outlets for its own citizens and neighbours. It must besides offer this information equally, objectively and for free. In an age of paywalls and subscriptions, the right to access reliable news must be a precedence for public backing across the continent.
Arguably, there are legal and administrative obstacles, and 1 cannot just build fresh media infrastructure in 1 day. The EU cannot just replace the financing of specified a long-standing and highly professionalized institution, which relies on a distinct editorial framework and standards of reporting. Even more so, in the case of an outlet, which is embedded in the traditions of a planet order defined by the post-1945 and post-1989 experiences.
However, this planet is disintegrating as we speak. Post-socialist structures and power levers became anachronisms to a large degree with the COVID-19 pandemic and the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The Trump administration is in many ways only crossing the t’s and dotting the i’s with the carnage it is inflicting on the delicate transatlantic infrastructure and its political tools.
Hollowing out the US global news media apparatus is so not only an result of an unpredictable and utterly destructive Trump administration. It is besides a symptom of a global reshuffling in which Europe must not be simply reactive but radically creative. However, it besides should be something which it seldom is: quick, decisive and effective – all at the same time.
Granted, procedures and structures request to be negotiated and RFE/RL must not lose its established geographic focus. Nevertheless, this is besides a one-time chance to grow and rethink the profile of this home towards a truly independent, non-affiliated and fact-based media outlet for the full continent and for the ones outside, who share its values. With an global core staff, extended network of reporters, and considerable know-how in place, RFE/RL could make into a public service platform informing all of us in the 21st century. After all, it is already located at the heart of Europe in a state-of-the-art office with studios, offices and editorial facilities.
By guaranteeing further its autonomy from national and government agendas or associate state influence, it could become what had initially been anticipated of groups like Euronews, Arte and others. Protecting news consumers from abroad and home malign influence in the age of hybrid warfare, cyber-attacks and disinformation campaigns, it could build on the information it already provides in 27 languages. Complemented by the rapidly developing tools of large language models, AI and device translation, specified a media home could in a fewer transformative years accommodate all the language communities of Europe and its neighbourhood.
Relying on the traditions of uniting the continent in the times of the Iron Curtain, Europe must now admit the needs of news audiences surviving in populist, authoritarian and openly oppressive regimes. Ranging from within the EU, through to Serbia and even Russia or Afghanistan, the content produced in Prague is frequently the only alternative.
In times erstwhile the United States is retreating from this role, Europe remains the sole actor that could supply continuity. By grasping the gravity of this make-it-or-break-it minute , it could supply a solid foundation for growth and development. If this chance is missed however, the continued production of malign images and narratives will erode what post-socialism was all about – spreading the values of freedom, democracy and human rights in Europe and beyond.
Oszkár Roginer-Hofmeister is the Head of the Global Europe Programme at EUROPEUM Institute for European Policy in Prague. He holds a Phd in Literary Sciences (University of Pécs), a PhD in Southeastern European past (University of Graz), an MA in Cultural Sociology (Univeristy of Zadar), and has a primary education in Hungarian Studies (University of Novi Sad). In his work, he focuses on media freedom, structure of media landscapes, the function of the EU in Central Europe and the Western Balkans.
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