Get your Baltic Sea Region news on BDF edited www.newswave.eu.
The overall objective of the website – called “newsWave” – is to improve information exchange and the cross-border communication between the countries of the region. Under the umbrella of the EU-financed ONE BSR project Baltic Development Forum will use innovative communication as a means to increase understanding and prosperity.
The “newsWave” website will emphasize independent journalistic news on all levels – to the citizens, policy-makers, business, stakeholders, experts and the creative community of the region. It is essential that the new website is politically neutral, balanced, informative, open minded and using the best tradition of independent public service journalism. To guide BDF as editor, an international board will be established. The new site will be in English and free of charge.
The “newsWave” project was launched in Stockholm last week at a ONE BSR meeting on “Branding and Identity building” – and it was welcomed very positively. At present there is no independent news media covering the Baltic Sea Area as such. The new website will be the first regional communication platform/news exchange of its kind, communicating and sharing trans-national interesting topics – published on the website and immediately (re)distributed by e-mail, Facebook, Twitter etc. to news editors/exchange sites all over the region and to stakeholder magazines and websites.
In order to make this exchange of news lively and trustworthy, it has to be selected on the basis of journalistic news criteria (actuality, importance and interest) and edited in a simple, everyday language – published in a “catchy” form. News gathering and blogs will partly be in the hands of young talents recruited from all countries around the Baltic Sea – we call them news spotters.
Examples of content: • Daily BSR news from news spotters and from monitoring media
• Blogs and other external perceptions of the BSR
• Results/news from ONE BSR/Baltic Sea Region projects
• Stakeholder initiatives and news • EU news concerning BSR on all levels
• Debates, dialogues and think-tank inputs • Weekly editorial/opinion by high-level authors
• Information on/links to BSR countries and relevant web pages
• Space for sponsors/advertisers and other income-sources
The aim is a sustainable news website for the Baltic Sea macro-region Communicating regional news, identity debates and EU-project results to an audience not used to cross-border information is a difficult task. A website with the ambition to improve information exchange with the overall aim to promote a more distinct regional identity or “we-feeling” is an even more difficult purpose.
On top of that the recruitment and engagement of young volunteers – news spotters from all countries around the Baltic Sea – to monitor the news coverage and write short extracts on Baltic Sea Region topics – as well as blogging on the daily life in their area – can be labelled as a unique novelty.
BDF is certain however that it will succeed with the help and support from all good parties, building upon the extraordinary public interest for closer cooperation in the region and using the impetus of the EU-strategy. We have a clear aim: a sustainable website for the Baltic Sea macro-region after the two year pilot period – partly financed by sponsors/advertisers and the EU.
For further information please contact:
Baltic Development Forum Head of Communication, Dan Axel