User:Brangi3/Eurolang

EUROLANG

Eurolang® is a specialist news agency covering topics related to lesser-used languages, linguistic diversity, stateless nations and national minorities within the European Union.

Based in Brussels, it provides an expanding on-line daily service across Europe, to NGOs, the media, European, State and local government, academia, researchers and the general public.

The purpose of Eurolang is to provide, on a daily basis, relevant and current news about Europe's regional, stateless and minority language communities, numbering some 46 million speakers, to the general public and to national and regional media (newspapers, magazines, TV, radio, internet media) in Europe and worldwide.

Eurolang was launched in 2000 by the European Bureau for Lesser Used Languages (EBLUL), since then it has seen its’ readership steadily grow worldwide.

Dr. Davyth Hicks has been the Editor-in-Chief since 2003.

Eurolang has various roles.

In the first instance it reports on the EU institutions, whose decisions and actions may affect our language communities across Europe. It reports on developments in the European Parliament, the Commission, the Committee of the Regions, monitoring meetings and committees, which may have a bearing on language policy. It therefore communicates Europe to the RML communities and to a wider audience.

Secondly, Eurolang focuses on regular reports from the countries and regions in the EU Member States, through a growing network, currently 25, of lesser-used language speaking journalists. Their articles are key to Eurolang, they provide the essential localised dimension and colour which is the hallmark of Eurolang coverage. In focusing on Europe from the bottom up, and in using as many lesser-used languages as possible, we promote a ‘real’ Europe and a Europe of linguistic and cultural diversity

Eurolang acts to link these language communities with each other and helps to initiate language projects and, by keeping up with developments, keeps people aware of current best practice.

Eurolang because of its worldwide readership acts to internationalise issues. The “mainstream” media on the whole concentrate on news at the state level resulting in language and national minority news being seen as peripheral to more "important” events. Eurolang therefore provides for the voice of these communities to be heard at a pan-European level and is crucial in publicising actual infringements of language rights, Eurolang is there first to bring these issues to our European and world readers.

Eurolang has taken on other roles; it acts as the market place for language related activities, e.g. new language learning software, advertising conferences, new music, theatre, books and so on. It is able to monitor issues involving language rights and respect for linguistic diversity. Eurolang also monitors new legislation that may affect lesser used language speakers and disseminates information on EU language project funding possibilities. Moreover, Eurolang is the website that people worldwide come to first to get all the information and news on European lesser used languages.

Eurolang - communicating Europe's linguistic diversity

http://www.eurolang.net/ Eurolang

http://www.eblul.org/ EBLUL