The folks behind BloggingPortal.eu with the support of the European Commission’s London office are organising a half day event in London next week looking at EU-UK debate online. Speakers include – among others – Guido Fawkes, Bagehot and Nosemonkey…

The official info about the event:

WITH THE Irish bailed-out and Portugal getting ready to bail, the EU is in the news every day at the moment. Which is why this seems like an excellent opportunity to investigate how the British blogosphere writes about the EU. #EUuk is a Bloggingportal.eu event (organised with the help of the European Commission) being held in London on December 10th – and we’ve put together quite a programme (even if we do say so ourselves). There will be two discussion panels with plenty of time for questions. We’ve tried to balance our panels to include both pro and critical points of view, and to include a mix of bloggers and journalists (divided equally between the panels – because we think bloggers have a lot to say about the media and journalists have a lot to say about bloggers).

WHEN: 10th December 2010 – 13:00 – 18:00
WHERE: Europe House, 32 Smith Square, London, SW1P 3EU
WHAT: A non-partisan event exploring the different ways bloggers and journalists can cover the EU in Britain
HASHTAG: #EUuk

EVENT PROGRAMME

13:00 – EVENT START / REGISTRATION / SANDWICH LUNCH

13:45 to 15:15 – FIRST PANEL – “The EU in the British Media”
We’ll be asking our panelists about the coverage of the EU in the British press. Do the media generally do a good job of “keeping tabs” on the EU? Is it true that British euroscepticism is driven by the media, or are the media just following public opinion?
PANELISTS:

  • David Rennie – Political Editor and Bagehot Columnist, The Economist, Bagehot’s Notebook
  • Paul Staines – Blogger, Guido Fawkes
  • Mats Persson – Director, Open Europe
  • J Clive Matthews – Blogger, Nosemonkey’s EUtopia

15:15 – COFFEE BREAK

15:45 to 17:45 – SECOND PANEL – “The EU in the British Blogosphere”
In this panel, we’ll be turning a critical eye on the British blogosphere. Do bloggers have any advantages over mainstream journalists when writing about the EU? Are bloggers better informed and freer to say what everybody is really thinking? Unconstrained by deadlines and editorial oversight, can they delve deeper into a story? Or are they just under less pressure to maintain levels of accuracy and ethical behaviour?

PANELISTS:

  • Bruno Waterfield – Brussels Correspondent, The Daily Telegraph, Europe not EU
  • Gawain Towler – UKIP / Europe of Freedom and Democracy Press Officer and Blogger, England Expects
  • Antonia Mochan – Head of Media, EU Commission Representative in the UK, Talking About the EU
  • Jon Worth – Blogger, Jon Worth’s Euroblog

Both panels will be moderated discussions, including time for questions from the audience. There will be wifi provision and a charging station for laptops/mobile phones etc. There are still a couple of places available, so please let us know by e-mail (info at bloggingportal eu) if you are interested in attending. Entry is free.

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