The big reveal! After months of conjecture, Brussels insiders wondering which of the many options open to Financial Times tech and competition correspondent Javier Espinoza he would take up, finally have their answer.
After some eight years at the FT, he will step into the newly created role of Europe executive editor at The Capitol Forum, a Washington-headquartered outlet that is broadening its reach. He and the team will cover competition, digital, trade and other potential policy verticals as demand grows. An event is planned for January 31 and a podcast is in the works.
This is the latest challenge to POLITICO’s stranglehold over the Brussels market. Semafor, another US media organisation, has been sounding out Brussels talent ahead of its planned launch here later in the year. French-language outlet Contexte is venturing into the anglophone world, including by hiring two hard-hitting reporters to cover energy in Brussels. And MergerMarket, which specialises in competition, is gearing up in Brussels, having hired Tono Gil from MLex.
Then there’s Euractiv’s revamp under new editor-in-chief Matthew Karnitschnig, the promotion of Elena Sánchez Nicolás as EUObserver’s editor-in-chief, the reinvigoration of MLex with Kait Bolongaro as managing editor, the appointment of Claus Strunz at the helm of Euronews, and the return to journalism via PR of former BBC hand Phil Herd at the Brussels Times.
To say that all this means POLITICO should be very afraid is an exaggeration. It remains by far the dominant player in Brussels – and with its multiple staffers, newsletters, events and podcasts, it looks set to stay so.
Yet in the past year, star POLITICO reporters Paola Tamma and Barbara Moens have signed up with the FT as part of a steady exodus of talent to rival outlets. And according to Semafor, POLITICO is also under pressure in the US with London-based Jack Blanchard heading across the Atlantic to beef up the team.
As its 10th birthday in Europe looms, Brussels media watchers are eager to see whether POLITICO’s reorganisation at the top under Kate Day as lead European editor, with Jamil Anderlini deploying his journalistic talent and effortless charisma in the new role of regional director, will stem the flow.
What is sure though is that the Brussels story will remain the story for some yet.
Victoria Main, Chief Business Development Officer