There must be some weird planet conjunction at the moment as some of the most renowned Eurobloggers are either calling it quits or moving to pastures new. Yesterday Julien Frisch announced he was stopping his blog. Today Charlemagne announced he would stop blogging under this pseudonym, would move back to London, and start blogging about UK politics. Jon Worth announced a couple of weeks ago that he would move back to London too.
As a Euroblogger and a Blogging Portal editor, I feel like an orphan. What will happen to the Euroblogosphere without some of its most emblematic bloggers? I hope new Eurobloggers will emerge. Kosmopolit already spotted a new one today called Ooh, Brussels! Time for a new generation I guess. So come on people, do you like to write? Do you want to have your views heard? Do you want to shake up EU affairs? Don’t hesitate! Open a blog! Now.
This post is also available in: French
The irony about Julien is that it was when he moved to Brussels he decided to stop! So it’s not as if leaving Brussels should stop you being a Euroblogger… While I have been generally uninspired by EU matters in recent weeks I doubt it will persist long term and there will be plenty on my blog about EU matters in the future, wherever I end up.
First I thought it was just a phase. I mean my last post is more than a month old. I’ve seen previous slow phases in the euroblogosphere. Even if there are stories to cover, I really don’t feel like blogging about European affairs. Who cares anyway.
I blame the weather .. and the EU :p
In autumn, when Brussels is getting mad again, I think we’ll have more posts and blogs.
Really tough to see some of the pioneer generation moving on (if they really are… – time will tell). In a cynical moment, one might say that no-one can take more than two or three years of this thankless task. But in more upbeat moments, I really believe we’re at the beginning of something big here. Keep the faith!
I’ve stopped clogging up Demsoc.org with my EU thinking (well, mostly), and have shifted that to EuropeanFuture.eu. Not much there yet, but I’m working on it. Also on Twitter at @eurofuture
I know what you mean.
But things change – I’ve had to severely curtail my own EU content in order not to conflict with my job…
On the plus side, the UK Foreign Sec’s just announced more Brits are needed in the Commission so hopefully a whole load more people with be interested in the EU very soon!
@all, KEEP IT UP!!! It’s great to see that this tiny blogpost has provoked such a reaction. It means we’re far from being a dying breed!
@Jon, glad to know you’ll keep on writing about EU stuff wherever you will be 🙂
@Martin, I think it’s just a phase. We are in the post-electoral dip. We’ve been blogging like hell in 2009 because of the European elections and the EU top job nominations. Now it’s back to business as usual, policy over politics, definitely not as exciting. But we just have to find new sources of inspiration. Or blog about other stuff in the meantime. Open up the EU bubble.
@stctweets, thanks for your encouragement! very honoured to have you comment on my blog 🙂 Don’t worry, we’re not loosing the faith, that passion can’t be extinguished.
@Anthony, good luck with the new site!
@Rose22joh yes I’ve had to adapt the content of my blog too but on the other hand it’s nice to be blogging about other stuff than the EU! Life is bigger! We should probably try and link up more what’s happening in-country and what’s happening at EU level but it’s difficult to follow both at the same time.
Hello europasionaria,
It is a pity that Charlemagne leave European affairs and Julien Frisch stop his blog. But I think there are some interesting initiatives from several bodies that promote blogs about the EU. Espacio Europa has published the winners of the II Blog Contest about European affairs. There are different categories and my blog has won “Best post about Europe” ex aequo other three blogs.
http://www.espacioeuropa.eu/blog-eu/ganadores-del-ii-concurso-de-blogs-espacio-europa-2010/#comments
In addition, I would like to ask you about how to be part of eurobligging.eu. I proposed my blog but did not receive any answer yet.
Thanks
Après les dĂ©parts de Julien et Charlemagne …
… Appel du 4 juillet pour la fondation d’un blog collectif europĂ©en
“Julien Frisch qui s’en va, c’est l’euroblogosphère qui pleure” est l’un des tweets que j’ai posté il y a quelques jours après avoir appris que Julien Frisch, Monsieur Julien Frisch, l’un des blogueurs les plus connus et reconnus en affaires européennes tirait sa révérence.
Mardi dernier, Frisch expliquait sur son blog les raisons qui l’amenaient à arrêter. Pas un coup de tête, une décision mûrement réfléchie. Envie de passer à autre chose, besoin de passer à autre chose. Ironie de la vie, c’est au moment où Julien arrive à Bruxelles qu’il arrête de bloguer.
La loi des séries est souvent terrible. Le même jour, Charlemagne, Monsieur Europe chez The Economist expliquait qu’il quittait Bruxelles et retournait à Londres. Il continuera à bloguer… sur la politique britannique.
La suite : http://europeanelection2009.blog.lemonde.fr/2010/07/04/appel-du-4-juillet-pour-la-fondation-dun-blog-collectif-europeen/