THE BRUSSELS MEDIA SCENE

Source: Gareth Harding, Clear Europe Managing Director

Since May 2012, the European Commission has stopped publishing its highly-prized list of accredited journalists to the EU, making reliable figures hard to come by. However, Clear Europe has obtained a treasure trove of up-to-date statistics from well-placed EU sources who requested anonymity. Here are the highlights.

1. There has been a spectacular rise in the number of freelance journalists. A decade ago there were just 11 freelancers covering the EU. In 2012 there were 64. Now there are 159, more than double that of three years ago.
2. More journalists are accredited to Belgium-based media than any other country- 143. This is largely because of the arrival of POLITICO Europe, which is based in Brussels and is already the largest non-Belgian media outlet in town with 40 accredited reporters. Germany, the biggest in 2012, supplies 11°, France 95 and the UK 87. Again, these raw figures are slightly deceptive. The British numbers are skewed by the fact that media such as MLex and Euractiv are registered in London. The figure has also raised eyzebrows among French journalists, with the French Permanent Representation to the EU noting a much lower figure. Part of the reason might be a massive jump in the number of journalists working for Euronews, which has its haedquarters in Lyon.
3. The total number of journalists accredited to the EU institutions was 955 as of late 2015. This is marginally higher than 2012, when there were 931 reporters. Of these 955 reporters, 599 are men and 356 are women. In percentage terms, 63% are male and 37% are female, a slight rise in parity compared to the 2012 figures when 65% were men and 35% women.
4. In addition to the 955 journalists accredited to the EU, there are 358 technicians- cameramen, photographers, producers etc- bringing the total number of accreditation badges to 1313. Belgium supplies by far the largest share of technicians- 376, with Germany 143 and France 105.
5. The 1313 accredited journalists and technicians represent 487 different media companies. Reporters working for the written press make up just over a quarter of the total number with news agencies and television just under a quarter each.

News Bureaus

1. Agence Europe
2. Agence France Presse
3. ANSA
4. APTN
5. ARD
6. Associated Press
7. BBC
8. Belga
9. Bloomberg
10. Deutsche Press Agentur
11. Deutsche Welle
12. Dow Jones
13. Euronews
14. Europolitics
15. EFE
16. Financial Times
17. MLex
18. New Europe
19. Parliament Magazine
20. POLITICO
21. Radio France International
22. Thomson Reuters
23. Xinhua
24. ZDF