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Us Europeans - 1989 testimonials

Looking for trouble

Copenhagen, DK (View on map)
Posted 9 Jul 2008:

As far as the previous four articles on Us Europeans showed, Denmark seem to be a rather problem-free country. That obviously makes me quite eager to find out about the problems there are, because how can a country ever be perfect? I guess there`s no better way to look for bad stuff than to open up a newspaper, so here we go with a quick round-up of Danish problems, issues and challenges.... Read more

Dresden news review

Dresden, DE (View on map)
Posted 4 Jul 2008:

After discussing some national newspapers in previous countries along my way, I thought of today as a suitable occasion to pick a regional newspaper instead. Germany has many of those. My stay in Dresden made me opt for the local S?chsische Zeitung, which has quite some controversial topics on offer today, most of which seem to focus on procedures, procedures and even more procedures.... Read more

Polish headlines

Warsaw, PL (View on map)
Posted 24 Jun 2008:

The Polish media circus is almost as interesting and fascinating as Italian politics. It has a lot of drama, people accusing each other of this and that, papers being influenced by either political parties and/or the Church. Today`s edition of Dziennik, one of the biggest newspapers, spent one page writing about the Us Europeans project: a good reason to see what they think about the project and to investigate what other subjects are in the Polish news these days.... Read more

What`s new?

Bratislava, SK (View on map)
Posted 3 Jun 2008:

Finding some locals to help me read a local newspaper is not always easy. Whenever successful, such discussions are often a source of valuable information about the state of the country. Armed with the Slovak Daily `Dennik SME`, I try to find out what is going on in Slovakia these days with the help of Barbara (22), Marian (28) and Anastasia (25).... Read more

Slovak television

Zilina, SK (View on map)
Posted 2 Jun 2008:

Like all European countries, Slovakia saw a rapid increase in number of television channels since the early 1990s. Satellite dishes were prohibited under communism and their introduction in the market led to a real rush once they did become available. In the following years, the deployment of cable networks made satellite dishes redundant. The same is now happening to TV itself: internet is taking over.... Read more

Czech news roundup

Prague, CZ (View on map)
Posted 17 May 2008:

A signature analysis of the three presidential candidates in the United States, a handicapped athlete who may be able to qualify for the Summer Olympics in Beijing and the return of a politician who had been accused of taking bribes. That`s the most important news the Czech newspaper `Lidov? Noviny` has on its front page today. With the help of some of the few English-speaking inhabitants of Prague, I am trying to find out which other topics are making headlines in the Czech Republic today.... Read more

Watching `Joboratok`

Sz?kesfeh?rv?r, HU (View on map)
Posted 14 Apr 2008:

Of all the different people I have met on this trip so far, Hungarians seem to be the least attached to their TV. Greeks seemed to have one for every few square meters in the house, with the one in the kitchen preferably switched on all day. Some Portuguese housewives ? so I was told - could easily spend entire days watching Brazilian soap operas. Hungary is a little more moderate in its TV consumption. The local way of setting priorities does not leave Hungarians much time to stare at the black box.... Read more

In the news

Cluj Napoca, RO (View on map)
Posted 28 Mar 2008:

Le Monde, The Guardian, The Herald Tribune, The Times and a range of British and German boulevard papers ? most big European cities and tourist centres sell international newspapers. In Romania, they are very hard to find. I remember seeing one copy of Die Zeit in Sibiu and that`s about all. Even Romanian newspapers do not seem to be printed in high numbers and stunning diversities.... Read more

Television today

Tarnovo, BG (View on map)
Posted 12 Mar 2008:

Just like many other European countries, Bulgaria had only two state-owned television channels before 1990. In those days, Channel 2 only started broadcasting at 18h30 and children had to await the weekend to get to see some cartoons. Between then and now, the media landscape changed dramatically. Most Bulgarian households now have access to no fewer than 60 channels of all different kinds.... Read more

Media circus

Pompei, IT (View on map)
Posted 2 Feb 2008:

Political stability is not one of Italy`s strong points. Left-wing governments succeed right-wing governments and vice versa. Since World War II, the average lifetime of Italian governments has barely exceeded one year. Ordinary Italians put very little trust in their political leaders and they are forced to mistrust their national media as well. Politics and media are accepted to be run by the same people. Former and possibly future president Silvio Berlusconi, owner of three TV stations, is a good example of the close links between media and politics. How do Italians deal with an entire press system that does not even pretend to be independent?... Read more

Cyprus news review

Limassol, CY (View on map)
Posted 19 Jan 2008:

Intending to write a story about news coverage in Cyprus, I am quite surprised to find the quote `Turks out of Cyprus!` on the front page of one of the country`s leading newspapers. Source of the quote: Cypriot tennis player Marcos Baghdatis, engaged in anti-Turkish chants with a group of supporters after he got kicked out of last year`s Australian Open. Moving images of the incident only recently submerged on YouTube, and they dominate today`s headlines in Cyprus.... Read more

Internet replaces TV

Southampton, UK (View on map)
Posted 11 Jan 2008:

Big Brother, imported from The Netherlands in 2000, grew out to be a big hit during the first two editions on British television. Clones and spin-offs like Teen Big Brother and Celebrity Big Brother saw the daylight shortly after, just like many other reality-based programs. After huge initial successes, the popularity of the Big Brother concept has slowly faded out, with the withdrawal of Celebrity Big Brother ? announced today ? as a so-far low. Question of today: which TV programs still motivate people to switch on their black box?... Read more

French media

Metz, FR (View on map)
Posted 7 Dec 2007:

While Saudad describes the innate tendency for a Portuguese to feel nostalgic, a French person could not be properly French without being philosophical about life, politics and art. Some inform themselves properly to have at least a basic insight in what they are talking about, others don`t and you can hardly tell the difference from the way they talk about whatever they talk about. I am trying to find out how people inform themselves about what happens in society: which TV programs and newspapers and websites they read to keep up with the news ? and which ones simply serve to keep them amused.... Read more

Fado and Smelly Cats

Lisbon, PT (View on map)
Posted 7 Nov 2007:

Yesterday`s article about immigration showed that some subjects cut countries in half and opposes people to one another. Fortunately, there are also issues that unite different cultures. It would be hard to find a place people watch no sports and don`t listen to music. In the modern world, TV is one the most common media to send entertainment into people`s homes. Internet has added the feature of global accessibility to it, allowing virtually anybody from anywhere to view the same content. Still, each country has different preferences. Here`s a list of some entertainment stuff that is popular in Portugal.... Read more

In the news

Coimbra, PT (View on map)
Posted 30 Oct 2007:

Apart from different events taking place in different country, media coverage about these events also tends to differ a lot. The United Kingdom has its famous tabloids, Finland has its strictly impartial and factual way of reporting. Portugal is somewhat in the middle of all that. I bought a decent-looking newspaper today and asked people to help me read along or comment on the events.... Read more

Swedish news

H?rn?sand, SE (View on map)
Posted 3 Oct 2007:

Getting access to the latest news is easy in Sweden. For many people, newspapers are part of the daily routine. The evening news is one of the most popular TV programs. Here`s a brief overview of what the Swedish news supply looks like:... Read more

TV Classics and Media

Kajaani, FI (View on map)
Posted 23 Sep 2007:

It may have been a coincidence but hardly any of the people I met in Finland so far are fanatic TV-watchers. That hasn`t kept me from trying to find out which programs are popular, and what kind of TV programs people used to watch as a child, or what other media they have access to. ... Read more

What the papers say

Kuldiga, LV (View on map)
Posted 29 Aug 2007:

I still have some interesting topics to cover in Latvia, but this morning I will let the newspaper decide what the subject is going to be. Before taking the bus from Ventspils to Kuldiga, I choose one out of many Latvian and Russian newspapers. It's Diena (The Day), and I later find out that it is one of the two most popular countrywide newspapers in Latvia. One problem: I can`t read a word of it. Assistance required and I do manage to get some although it takes me a while to locate English-speaking people in the small town of Kuldiga.... Read more

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