The Gen Z newsroom covering Europe (and ruffling some continental feathers along the way)

"The European Correspondent began with a game of telephone between two college students, one in Amsterdam, one in Basel. As the friends passed updates about their countries back and forth, the thought dawned on them - hey, wouldn't it be great to have friends all over the continent, sharing news just like this? So they started a daily newsletter, recruited a stable of unpaid volunteers from every country in Europe, established a Swiss business association, and got to work on their pan-European venture."

"The idea was simple: tap an on-the-ground correspondent in, say, Yerevan to unpack local stories with universal themes for readers in Berlin, Paris, Kyiv, and London - like a write-up on 50-year-old parents turning to fertility clinics after lostgening children in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, all in a tight 300 words, newsletter-friendly and easily digestible. "We were not sure if there was an audience that wanted this kind of journalism," said co-founder Carla Allenbach. "But we like it, so let's try it out.""

"What happened next is a journalism Cinderella story. Just three years later, the outlet now boasts 70,000 daily subscribers, €2.16 million in funding from the European Commission, a roster of 140 contributors, and an ambitious vision to transform European journalism and expand to six languages. For this young, scrappy newsroom of recent college graduates, freelancers, and local journalists who've never had a byline outside their home country, the funding is a recognition of their arrival onto Europe's media landscape."

Two college students launched a daily pan-European newsletter after exchanging country updates. They recruited unpaid volunteers from across Europe, established a Swiss business association, and organized local correspondents to write concise, 300-word pieces with universal themes. The project emphasizes on-the-ground reporting from cities like Yerevan for readers in Berlin, Paris, Kyiv, and London. In three years the newsletter reached 70,000 daily subscribers, built a roster of 140 contributors, and secured €2.16 million in European Commission funding. The outlet plans expansion to six languages but faces a funding cliff in two years and aims to raise €1 million per year through grants, advertising, and reader support.

Read at Nieman Lab