The Digital News Initiative was established in 2021 with the founding of a Joint Review Committee (JRC). Its stated aim is “to promote and advance the quality of digital news and information”. This would include “enhancing the distribution and publishing of news content, increasing the availability of information on the internet, and making the process for obtaining news more transparent”. The project has since then been working towards these two aims.

In its first year the digital news initiative established twelve new news sites and grew to twenty-six. The growth rate has been extraordinary, to the extent that the initiative now encompasses all of southern Europe, including Portugal, Spain, and Greece, with plans to expand to further countries in the future. There has also been considerable growth in the number of newspapers that have chosen to become part of the initiative. As of this writing, there are seventeen such newspapers.

A key component of the digital news initiative is the innovation fund. This is “a fund developed to foster the development of new media, to provide financial resources for digital news organizations, and to enhance their diversity”. agency was created by the European Parliament as part of its wider policy on innovation, in order to help ensure that Europe can remain a leader in the world. The Innovation Fund is a gift from the European Union, and grants are granted only to those publishers that demonstrate a real commitment to innovation and fair use. In addition, there is also a Journalism Funds that is designed to support both freelance journalists and other forms of independent media. It makes available financial resources to online and print journalism.

As part of its mission, the European Parliament seeks to create a “more transparent society in which the public can draw on different sources of information”. It also wants to foster an environment where “the state plays a greater role in promoting quality societal activity and in ensuring that citizens benefit from the dissemination of information”. In effect, this means that there will be a greater concentration on the promotion of local and regional interest groups in place of larger international business interests. It has therefore created a situation where national ownership and control of the media are limited. This has driven some publishers to form commercial relationships with international business interests, and others have sought relationships with national and international media groups.

The first phase of the Innovation Strategy was a Working Group on Online Diversity. This group worked with a wide range of stakeholder representation, including social scientists, industry representatives, lawyers and other interested parties. This working group defined and drove several policy measures, which are currently being evaluated. These include, amongst other things, measures to: increase participation of women and ethnic minorities in online diversity; increase representation of cultures in online business and news outlets; provide training and technical assistance to small and medium sized businesses that are expanding their presence in the EU; and increase the availability of non fragmentation solutions to ensure the continued maintenance of the single European market for the pharmaceutical, chemicals and electricity industries.

The second phase of the Innovation Strategy is aimed at implementing the measures agreed in the second phase. This is the core component of the strategy and includes measures to: enhance access to and creation of online and digital content, foster diversification of the workforce and improve access to information and innovation. These measures also include measures to: promote training and technical assistance for small and medium sized companies that are expanding their presence in the EU; and improve dissemination and development of European youth. In addition to the abovementioned measures, the2018 strategy for the European online and digital news publishing industry includes measures to: develop a competitive internet and digital advertising market; create a European information ecosystem; and improve the design and production of web pages.

Another important element of the Innovation Strategy for the European online and digital news publishing industry is the European Network Innovative Services (ENSI). The initiative, which was launched by the Commission in autumn 2021, will foster cooperation among member states in order to build a more cost-effective and innovative European information market. The main function of the European Network Innovative Services is to develop a European digital innovation platform, consisting of a centre of excellence, research, and development centres, industry mentors, and a national network of programme managers. As part of its mission, the commission intends to “develop a context in which national innovation strategies can be coordinated across the European Union”. The centre of excellence is to be led by the European Research Centre (EPC).

DDI will not directly support the implementation of the Innovation Strategy for the European online and digital publishing industry. However, the activities carried out by the DDI, as it develops and implements the strategy, will support a deeper understanding of the key issues and trends affecting the industry, and will help to provide timely solutions to those problems. The activities of the DDI may also prove to be a catalyst for new business interests that will find expression in the policy area. The ultimate aim of the initiative is to stimulate growth and development in the digital innovation sector in the EU.