How European news organisations are planning US election coverage

2024 is the biggest election year in world history, meaning that news outlets are intensifying their political coverage. Ahead of the US elections on November 5th, The Fix has spoken to three European news organisations, SME, Euractiv and Deutsche Welle, to look at how they cover this major event that has implications for Europe and the world, and how this fits with their long term strategy. 

Case 1: The daily newspaper

Launched in 1993, SME is Slovakia’s leading liberal news outlet, covering current affairs in print and digital editions. For the past 15 years, the publisher has been an important platform for public debate, playing an important role in the 2010 parliamentary election campaign as the opposition newspaper to then Prime Minister Robert Fico.

In this context, Lukáš Onderčanin, the head of the foreign news desk at SME, notes a decline in the interest of Slovak readers in international affairs generally speaking – despite some exceptions like the coverage of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, or the failed assassination attempt on Donald Trump. 

According to him, the main explanation for this trend is news avoidance, a general apathy caused by domestic politics: “With many changes in the political landscape, attacks on the media by politicians, numerous conflicts on the political scene, and the war in neighbouring Ukraine, we observe a decline in the time spent reading news in general. Consequently, international news, often perceived as less important, sometimes struggles to gain attention amid many pressing domestic issues.”

This growing fatigue also translates into economic consequences for the outlet, due to the fact that international coverage becomes less profitable. That is why resources within the foreign news desk are reallocated to optimise production costs: “We rely more on translations of syndicated news content, such as reports from The Washington Post, which is cheaper than sending our reporters abroad,” Onderčanin says. 

These challenges also force SME to rethink the type of formats featured. While sending reporters to the US before the elections to bring stories from the field still remains an open question at the moment, in the meantime the outlet focuses on in-depth analyses and interviews with experts. On the election day itself, this approach will be combined with a minute-by-minute reporting as well as a widget counting votes in all US states. For Lukáš Onderčanin, the goal is simple, yet clear: “SME’s strategy is to serve our readers while monetizing part of its content through subscription-based articles behind a paywall”.

Case 2: The web media 

Launched in 1999, Euractiv is an independent pan-European media network specialised in EU affairs. On top of news coverage, across 8 policy areas, the web media regularly organises events where key stakeholders discuss European policy-making – with the ambition to go beyond the  ‘Brussels perspective’ on EU news and policy debates.

That is why when it comes to the coverage of the US election, Euractiv stays true to its editorial line, and investigates how it affects EU policy – rather than repeating the extensive coverage other outlets prioritise. As Chris Powers, who wears both the hat of Audience Manager and UK politics reporter, details: “The coverage is spread across our thematic policy hubs, with contributions from junior politics reporters”.

As for the audience’s interest in the US election coverage, at this stage “it is still too soon for us to properly gauge” according to Powers, who suspects this will change when “there is something concrete coming out of US politics”, with regards for instance to military support for Ukraine, and the EU-US-China moves on batteries, or trade sanctions. 

This niche focus on EU affairs also means that Euractiv does not anticipate a specific gain connected to the specific coverage of the US election – as long as the basics are there to fulfil the needs of the readers. In comparison, the snap French parliamentary election in June was much more significant both in terms of reader interest, and output of articles.

For Chris Powers, the challenge ahead for Euractiv lies in connecting the dots: “As the EU becomes more important on a range of policy topics, relations between it and countries outside also become not only more relevant, but also of interest for a larger audience”.

Case 3: The big corporation 

Launched in 1953, Deutsche Welle is Germany’s international broadcaster. Originally, it was intended to support West Germany’s readmission to the international community, but nowadays, the focus lies more on producing programming that reflects Germany as a liberal democracy rooted in European culture. To reach this goal, the programs are broadcasted to an international audience in more than 30 languages. 

The US election is no exception, as Carla Hagemann, Deutsche Welle’s Corporate Spokesperson, suggests: “Based on previous years, we know that interest in the US election builds up as we get closer to the actual vote. But we also know that our audiences are not turning to DW for the latest news coverage from the campaign trail”.

These insights have shaped Deutsche Welle’s strategy in terms of coverage, which aims at providing impartial news and information, as well as giving people worldwide the opportunity to form their own opinions and make informed decisions.

“We will focus on those topics of relevance to people in countries outside the US. That means concentrating on issues such as foreign relations, international trade and migration as opposed to domestic topics” details Hagemann. 

We will show our audiences how the election of the US president has an impact on their lives, why it matters to them and how conflicts in their region could be influenced by the outcome

Carla Hagemann, Deutsche Welle’s Corporate Spokesperson

To achieve this vision, the number of reporters in DW’s Washington studio throughout October and November has already been increased. More importantly, in the run-up to election day, the US planning team will be expanded, as well as new reporter assignments introduced. 

While this strategy will be implemented across all platforms and languages, the emphasis in terms of angles and audiences will be on both providing background context and explanations for younger audiences on social media, as well as presenting the German and European perspective on US election developments for the DW’s many users in North America. 

“Our expertise is the international perspective, specifically the German-European perspective, on the candidates and policy issues. Audiences come to us for this type of reporting; their interest – as well as click counts – pick up when we combine our unique DW perspective and expertise with relatable insights and background information” notes Hagemann. 

Source of the cover photo: Element5 Digital via Unsplash

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