Only 9 days to go until polling places close in Germany. However, the media does not contribute to push the European Elections. Reports about it are still very rare. In these days media reports deal more with the future of Opel in Germany.
But what about the future of Europe? Where should Europe go in the Elections? Opel has 29.000 employees in Germany. Europe has 492,8 million citizens. Of course it is important to ensure that the people working at Opel do not become unemployed, but on the other hand it is also important to make European citizens more familiar with Europe in order that they use their chance to vote until next sunday (June 7th). Now there is the best time for medias to report on Europe and motivate people to vote. Unfortunately, until now they waste that chance. One report less about Opel and for Europe would be a good solution. For more Europe in the Media NOW!
Only when the media reports regularly on the actions of the EU and explains the processes and institutions, citizens can become more aware of the their “voice in Europe”: The European Parliament. There has to be a public debate on issues like the Lisbon Treaty or the future direction of EU policy. Thus, the media has a major role in creating a European people that deals with European topics and voices its opinion regarding future politics. Without a debate their won’t be interest in Europe and its elections. People will say: “Why should I vote, my vote will not change anything, because the EP has no power!” How should they know that in the co-decision procedure has already veto power since the Maastricht Treaty. How should they know that the power of the European Parliament is actually extended in the Lisbon Treaty? How should they know when the media only rarely report about these changes?
(7 votes, average: 4.14 out of 5)
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I share your sense of frustration.
I know it’s unrealistic for the European media to get as excited as the US media did during their presidential elections, but plenty of people I speak to still have no idea there ARE elections in a week.
So… What are you going to do about it, Franziska? How will you be covering the elections?
Spiegel online is reporting on the main German candidates http://www.spiegel.de/politik/deutschland/0,1518,627188,00.html and some leading media like Spiegel or ZEIT are promoting the “wahl-o-mat” http://www.wahl-o-mat.de/europa/ where one can find out how much one’s own opinion matches the the party programmes. I think, reporting on the EP elections is not that boring and that invisible this year.