Our story

European Journalism Centre Foundation

Our purpose is to support, strengthen and develop journalism and media in the council of Europe. We are a Centre for communities, knowledge and collaboration with partners and funders and believe that reimagining journalism is key.

Our vision & mission:

In our vision the essence of journalism is to provide people with reliable, trustworthy and verified information so they can make the best possible decisions about their lives, communities, governments, and societies. Journalism plays a key role in defending freedom of expression, making governments and societies function better and enabling strong democracies. We need to stand for and defend press freedom and the free flow of information in a time when evidence-based reporting is under pressure.

Our mission is to strengthen the resilience of European journalism and progressive media by connecting journalists and media to new ideas, nurturing communities, making available a wide range of unique experiences, providing grants and skills development, and producing resources and training affordable or for free. Our aim is that every journalist and news organisation shall benefit from an EJC programme or initiative.

EJC embraces innovation and positive changes within the industry and is optimistic about the many exciting developments taking place across the media landscape in regards to new business models, new formats and technology. We aspire to be an essential resource and provide future insights so it can help journalism and media to innovate and flourish.

We connect and inspire people and communities through experiences, events and channels. We financially support and fund storytelling and innovation through grants and fellowships and we improve skills through training & resources. We actively engage and communicate about programmes, results (successes as well as failures) and outputs and the best practices in journalism and our work.

Our values

Our organisational values are: independent, collaborative, innovative, and inclusive. They are the reason why our partners want to work with us.

Our name contains everything we are:

We have a global reach but our main focus is European, our goal relates to Journalism and we are a Centre for communities, knowledge and collaboration with partners and funders. We are a non-profit foundation based in the city of Maastricht, Netherlands.

For that reason, we always spell our name the first time it appears, and as much as possible after that. In other words, we are the European Journalism Centre Foundation.

Where it needs to be abbreviated for readability or reasons of space, we are the EJC.

Our brand story

The brand, our culture and values

The European Journalism Centre's brand is the embodiment of our culture and the value we bring to our community. We operate a multitude of projects, initiatives, and communication channels across print, digital, and the real world. Our visual and voice style guides help maintain consistency in how we engage with people.

What people see and hear when engaging with the European Journalism Centre influences their perception of us. Across all our communications, it is essential that our brand identity:

• outlines our visual identity (logo, colour palette, typography, imagery)
• provides guidelines for brand messaging and communication
• ensures consistency across all brand touchpoints
• helps maintain the brand's reputation and trustworthiness
• guides decision-making and ensures alignment among stakeholders.

Visual description 

Across print and digital, the European Journalism Centre's visual style is:

• we use simple and modern visuals to communicate the brand's key messages
• a simplified logo with a modern font
• a fresh colour palette that is memorable
• impactful and trustworthy
• flexible and modular.

Our sub-brands don’t have their own brand identities and are integrated into the EJC branding. With the one exception of datajournalism.com, which has its own branding.