EU Largesse

Via Open Europe's press summary for today comes this link to Euractiv. This report quotes former Irish Times correspondent, Jamie Smyth, who was reportedly 'selected by the Commission as one of five journalists travelling with the president to pull a few strings in Ireland ahead of the referendum on the Lisbon Treaty last October. Such practices raise questions as to whether the EU executive will hand-pick reporters to satisfy its communication needs...........The president [Barroso] will also have two dedicated photographers on permanent call to ensure a 24-hour service and a TV crew that will travel with him". Reading words such as "whether the EU executive will hand-pick reporters to satisfy its communication needs" leads one to believe that there will be a 'propoganda' element involved where reporting is concerned.

And who will be funding all this? Yup, you guessed!