What is Stars4Media?
Stars4Media is a pilot programme for European media to facilitate cooperation between
media professionals (“rising stars”) with the goal of accelerating media innovation and crossborder coverage in Europe.
It aims at enhancing media innovation through skill-building
activities from different EU countries around specific Initiatives, to test ideas and technologies,
introduce new business models and produce new types of contents.
The Stars4Media programme is implemented by a Consortium formed of Vrije Universiteit
Brussel (VUB), Europe’s MediaLab (Fondation EURACTIV), European Federation of
Journalists (EFJ) and the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WANIFRA), with the co-funding of the European Commission.
What are the benefits
In the first edition of Stars4Media, media professionals had the chance to:
● cooperate with another European media over a maximum of 12 weeks
● gain practical skills such as quality reporting, data journalism, fact-checking, AI and
translation technologies, marketing, and social media
● be part of a community of media professionals in Europe
Media outlets managed to:
● grow their network with the best innovative media companies in Europe and top media leaders
● test ideas, develop new products and new business models and innovate
● develop and motivate their staff and future management