Tag: journalism

Petroleum agent presides over Brussels press corps

Blog, EU, Europe

Brussels 03.10.2025 The General Assembly of the International Press Association (API) endorsed a correspondent of the non-news media to preside over the journalisits’ organisation. Although officially Dafydd ab Iago @dafyddabiago (David Ferguson) has been “elected”, in reality he was endorsed because there were no competition for the position.

The situation is remarkable because he is the first chairman in half a century, who presides over the EU press corps, while working for non-news media, which means the UK company he represents as a Brussels correspondent has the following fields of endeavor: “advertising material publishing; On-line publishing of statistics and other information; On-line publishing photos and engravings; Photo and engraving publishing; Postcard publishing; Poster publishing: Printed matter publishing; Publishers (other than of newspapers, books and periodicals”. In its own words Argus Media (previously known as Petroleum Argus Ltd) is an independent provider of price information, consultancy services, conferences, market data and business intelligence for the global petroleum, and other types of energy.

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But where is journalism? Where is the construction of public discourse?
Where is prime target of journalism: serving as a forum for public criticism and search for a fair compromise, facilitating discussion and collective action for positive change?

How Argus “price information”, and “global petroleum data” ensures journalism’s watchdog function, in fact, the news media’s main role in political system? How does it increase accountability in the EU democratic governance systems? Obviously the non-news media are unrelated to journalism, while pursuing purely commercial purposes.

Subsequently the endorsement of non-news actor as the president of a the international journalist’s Association (API) manifests the state of Brussels press corps, drifting away from its original mission of Democracy’s Watchdogs.

Nowadays API unites 400 members among a thousand of the EU institutions-accredited journalists, being a specific organization for Brussels-based foreign correspondents. API claims to be first organization since 1975 to unite non-Belgian journalists of all categories and expertise based in Belgium and working for international media. The membership is open to journalists employed by one or more media outlets—whether as staff or freelancers—whose headquarters are located abroad, or who can demonstrate that their work is targeted at a non-Belgian audience, reads the introduction on the API site.

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As the representative group of non-Belgian journalists in the Kingdom of Belgium, API was created to facilitate connection between the foreign correspondents and the EU institutions on issues relevant to professional activities of the members. This includes the established set of rules, opening access to information, ensuring adequate working conditions at the EU press events, and equal access to the sources, and documents.

However during Ursula von der Leyen presidency of the European Commission which is the EU institution granting accreditation for the journalists, the access for the press-events and information has been severely restricted. The bunker mentality of Madame President is widely known, reflected in replacing press-conferences by read out of statements, “family” photos, and other photo-ops as shake hands, shifting from dialogue, answering to the questions of press to production of public relations material, and policies promotion.

This shift signifies a clean break with the previous presidencies of the European Commission, engaged in dialogue with press, and explanations of the initiatives, or decisions. The von der Leyen Commission has been systematically replacing them with advertising of the Commission’s activities, and public relations.

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Undoubtfully Brussels journalists are experiencing the global trends of transition from legacy media to digital multimedia, the process which has multiple implications. With the Digital revolution a Homo Sapiens, a product of written culture, is transforming into a Homo Videns for whom the word has been dethroned by the image. The image plays a decisive role, floating away from a text as an abstract form of thought to a visual representation. As a result the complexity of political process, democracy, and rule of law is substituted by shake hands, red carpets, and broad smiles of politicians, attempting to convince citizens that they are guided to a brighter future. Benefiting from the Digital technologies, the beau monde of politics is increasingly reliant on power of colorful, and often doctored images.

Within this global trend, while genuine discussion through traditional mass communication channels is replaced by the mosaic of optimistic edited images, the EU Commission does not miss opportunities to shape public debate upon its agenda. The Ursula von der Leyen Commission has successfully flooded the information field with the self-advertising, and promotions, while the gap between the Institutions, and regular citizens broadens daily.

In an exclusive new report for MCC Brussels — Brussels’s media machine: EU media funding and the shaping of public discourse — the author Thomas Fazi – revealed a vast, previously under-scrutinized system through which the European Union annually disburses nearly €80 million to media projects across Europe and beyond.

“The report contends that the EU’s financial leverage creates a “semi-structural relationship” with major media outlets, particularly public broadcasters and news agencies, blurring the lines between independent journalism and institutional communication — and seriously compromising the media’s ability to hold power to account” Thomas Fazi writes.

The European Commission and European Parliament collectively disburse close to €80 million annually to media projects, including major news agencies, who are used by the other types of media as a prime source of news distribution. The MCC report concluded a conservative estimate of one billion euro (€1 billion) in funding during the past decade. This figure doesn’t include indirect funding streams — for example, advertising or communication contracts awarded to marketing firms who then redistribute funds to major media outlets.

The European Commission system of replacing journalism by public relations, and advertising was shuttered by Brexit, which revealed the immunity of a large part of the electorate to the efforts of the EU institutions to promote their agenda, disguised in “independent” media discourse. However it after the departure of the Brits, the EU institutions’ methods became more aggressive, adding active censorship. The EU citizens have especially felt it during the pandemic, and beyond, when the battle for freedom of speech climaxed in EU Commissioner Thierry Breton clash with Elon Musk. The owner of X (formally Twitter) platform dabbed former European Commissioner for Digital Affairs a “tyrant of Europe” for his relentless efforts to impose censorship on social media via the EU regulations of the digital platforms.

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The public battles for freedom of speech, and censorship are shifting Overton window, so do the other, less noticeable, but not less significant actions, for example including non-news agents into journalistic communities, and then promoting them to lead. The endorsement of non-journalist as a president of the Association of the International Press is one of these Overton shifts. The replacement of journalists by advertising, and other commercial publications agents is not only a precedent, it is decisive vector of development, which will allow to ditch the role of press as democracy watch dogs to favor the European Commission lap dogs, without attracting much attention of the general public to the surrogate.

“This latest episode simply confirms the disgraceful state of the EU press corps, and Brussels-based journalists more in general, which have forsaken their role of watchdogs a long time ago and today largely act as PR agents for the corporate-political interests which fund their operations, which happens to include the Commission itself, which funds a large number of media outlets across Europe, as I show in my report, – Thomas Frazi wrote, commenting on the situation.-With the non-news media agent, leading the Association of International Press. – The result is that there is basically zero real scrutiny from the Brussels media of the Commission and von der Leyen’s policies, as the latter’s embarrassing press conferences attest to. The good news is that more and more people are starting to realise just how corrupt the traditional media are, and no longer give much credit to what they have to say. So as the propaganda becomes more pervasive and blatant, it also becomes less effective”.
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Letter to Postimees editorial

Blog, EU, Human rights

Brussels 19.09.2025
Postimees Editor-in-Chief Priit HÔbemÀgi

Dear Sir,
In spite of the EU prohibition of the publication of the personal data due to strict data protection regulations GDPR, Postimees newspaper blatantly breached the law again, and issued the second article, publishing my personal information without my consent, moreover the information published was inaccurate, manipulated, and in some passages totally false, thus damaging my reputation of an independent journalist. I am not a civil servant, governmental official, or an elected representative to be exempted from the general rule of the GDPR regulations, protecting personal data.

The GDPR regulations are effective since May 25, 2018, thus they grant individuals a significant control over their personal data, and place strict obligations on organizations worldwide that process EU citizens’ data. The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) does not permit the general publication of private data, as it prioritizes the protection of individuals’ privacy and requires a legal basis for any processing of personal data. Both articles about me are published after the date of the entering of the regulation into force, thus they are liable to the regulation.

As the editorial is obliged to respect the GDPR in publication of personal data, which is permissible only under specific conditions, such as obtaining informed consent, which was not asked by your employee Meinhard Pulk, who collected, manipulated, deformed, and published my personal data in incoherent way, and without my consent.

Unfortunately the second time in a new article the employee Meinhard Pulk provided readership with intentionally inaccurate, false, and incomplete information, with a clear pattern to mislead the public, and damage my professional reputation.

As professionals in media Postimees editorial is obliged to know that the intentional distortion of information is called disinformation, or information manipulation, when someone intentionally provides incomplete, inaccurate, or false information with the goal of manipulating the audience. Distortion can take various forms, including providing incomplete, incoherent information changing the context, or intentionally distorting part of the information.

Taking into consideration mentioned above, I demand respect my rights, and call the Postimees editorial to return to the legal methods of processing, and publishing information, removing my personal data from both issued articles. I would like also to remind you for the future, that I am the only owner of my personal data, having the exclusive rights to administrate it.

The information to be removed from both articles: my photo (image), my locations data, characteristics as my political opinions, my cultural background, my employment history.

This letter is send to you in good faith, and in accordance with the GDPR regulator recommendations in line with the wish to settle the arguments in the spirit of the good will. In case you ignore my request, I will start a formal procedure, demanding the penalties, and claiming the damages as foreseen by the regulator.

NB! Any person who has suffered material or non-material damage as a result of an infringement of Regulation has the right to receive compensation the damage suffered.

Regards,
Anna

EU: Ursula – Colonial syndrome

Africa, Blog, EU, Politics

Brussels 26.02.2025 The second mandate of Ursula von der Leyen has been marked by a tight grip on press, covering the European Commission endeavors. The new rules for media accreditation are replicating the Belgium 1963 law defining the status of journalist during the crisis of the downfall of the Colonialism. Signed by the King Albert II in December 1963, the law remains a relic from a period of a further collapse of the Empire. The Belgian Congo, today DR Congo, ruled from 1908 to 1960, and Ruanda-Urundi, modern Rwanda and Burundi from 1922 to 1962, – became independent.

Obviously, after the proclamation of independence of the African colonies the desire of dominance of the Metropole didn’t extinguish, and the battle for the wealth went on, preventing newly liberated people from entering the political process in form of a debate on pages of the newspapers. The law signed by King Albert II formally defending a status of a professional journalist in Belgium in reality was transforming journalism in a cost-prohibitive occupation.

Nowadays in Belgium the law is still valid, and the status of a professional journalist, and the relevant press card are obtained after the revenue scrutiny by the Committee, which is composed upon the direct orders of the King.
“The title of a “professional journalist” is awarded by an official Approval Commission, composed equally of professional journalists and media directors. The members of the commission are appointed by royal decree” reads the announcement on the site of the Belgium Association of the Professional Journalists. https://www.ajp.be/la-loi-relative-au-titre-de-journaliste-professionnel/

Clearly, all of them the loyalists of the Crown. However, only loyalism is not suffice. As the Association of the professional journalists announces, the candidate for the statues has to present to the incognito Committee the integrity of the revenues, manifesting that the journalism is the major source of income.

A candidate should provide among the other documents a copy of the employment CONTRACT, or for freelancers: a proof of RENUMERATION – invoices, tax forms, etc. for the two-year period.

Taking into consideration mentioned above a contributor has no chance to obtain a status of a “professional journalist”, because it is not a number of articles, or success among readership, or other qualities, as for example a quotation index that counts. It is all about revenue, the capacity to sell the info product, resulting in a handsome income to impress the incognito loyalists in the Committee.
Doesn’t look too independent, neither modern in the Age of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, however this system is still effective in filtering the authors who are at odds with the mass-media system unable to sell. The professional journalist in Belgium is the one who is able to successfully merchandise his info product, which makes money the only measurement of a professional success, and opens doors for a professional affiliation.

More than half-a-century later Belgium 1963 law, protecting professional journalist status, or in reality filtering all the descent, narrating the uncomfortable truth which is not always suitable for sale, got second life thanks to Ursula von der Leyen. One can notice to what extend she takes the re-cycling seriously!

Skillfully von der Leyen replaces the Monarch in this new Commission accreditation rules, and the role of the former Colonies subjects is offered  to the EU journalists, who should proof that they are successful in merchandising their information products. The situation is even more ambivalent because the Commission refuses to issue a list of mass-media enjoying Ursula von der Leyen generosity, manifesting itself in lavish grants. As it was revealed in the MCC report by Thomas Fazi some of the recipients of the Commission “support” as the EuroNews TV Channel through years received hundreds millions omitting to inform the audiences about it.

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Exactly as in Belgium 1963 law the Committee, attributing the accreditation, is formed by Ursula von der Leyen Commission. The composition of the Committee, the names of journalists, or media they are representing is unknown. Incognito. Do the incognito members of the selection Committee enjoy grants from the Commission? Unknown. What are the rules for handling the presented financial documents? Unknown. 

However to obtain the European Commission accreditation  “Journalism must be their main source of income”, and for that purpose all the integrity of the revenues of a candidate should be presented for the scrutiny by unknown individuals, probably sponsored by the very Commission to buy their loyalty. 
Patrons and clients. 

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Emily O’Reilly, a former journalist, who served till recent as the EU Ombudsman said that her ambition was to “support the EU institutions in becoming more effective, transparent and accountable”, however by the end of her two terms she acknowledged with sadness in a podcast that she was “never at ease” with the “powerful consiglieri” from the Commission president’s cabinet. “Consiglieri” is a specific term used to describe a position in mafia structure in Sicily or Calabria, clearly used in this context intentionally.