EU Politicians Correct Flawed Online News Article

Article Corrected by EU Politicians

EU Politicians Correct Flawed Online News Article

A Media First: Politicians Correct On-line Article Regarding EU Post


Thanks to the internet, European Union (EU) politicians have done what has never been done before: they went on-line and corrected a news article. EurActiv is a leading online-media network covering EU news and its policy. According to its website, EurActiv provides "accurate and in-depth coverage on European policies." For any person following European Union news, it is a major news source and a leading European online paper.

On November 12, 2012, EurActiv published an article speculating nominations for the 2014 EU Commission Presidency. The article headlined, "Verhofstadt to be left out of the race for Barroso successor," stated "the Liberal Congress, held in Dublin from 8 to 10 November, said that even if Verhofstadt is an obvious candidate for Commission president, the party is unable to put forward his candidacy, because Rasmussen, a former Danish Prime minister whose mandate as NATO leader expires in 2014, has ambitions to get the job of Herman Van Rompuy as Council president, EurActiv was told."

The article declared only one liberal can hold a leading post and Guy Verhofstadt is a prominent liberal EU politician. The news story attracted leading EU politicians, who corrected the facts in the comment section.

Andrew Duff, Member of Parliament to the East of England and President of the Union of European Federalists, made the following statement in the comment section:

"I am not the only European Liberal - present throughout the recent Dublin congress - to be astonished by your conclusion that Guy Verhoftstadt is not likely to be our candidate for the Presidency of the European Commission in 2014…"

Former Dutch politician and MEP, Lousewies va der Laan, is the Vice President of Aliance of Liberals and Democrats and added," The analysis of MEP Duff is correct. As vice-president I was in all the relevant meetings and your piece is one-sided, incorrect and frankly not worthy of EurActiv. A correction would be appreciated."

Koen van Ramshorst, adviser to Hans van Baalen MEP commented," I agree with Lousewies. The article does not reflect the decisions made in Dublin concerning the nomination of an ALDE candidate for the Presidency of the European Commission in 2014."

Georgi Gotev, EurActiv's senior editor came onto the thread and rebutted with a blog post, he stated, "Dear Lousewies, dear all, to avoid confusion, see also my blogpost: Verhofstadt Still N.1 Choice to Succeed Barroso.

In print media, politicians and celebrities endured reporter's errors. Misquotes and omissions of unknown facts were reluctantly accepted as part of the process. Politicians and celebrities were never able to correct those mistakes with any ease. That is, until now thanks to the internet age.