One year on: How Politico has fitted into the Brussels media landscape

Tehran-born French national Shéhérazade Semsar-de Boisséson is managing director of Politico Europe, the Brussels wing of the ambitious US multi-platform news service. It was launched in April 2015 following the acquisition of EU policy weekly European Voice, which Semsar-de Boisséson had owned and published. She graduated from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service in 1990 with a BS and MS in international finance. Semsar-de Boisséson spoke about the challenges of bringing new angles to reporting on Europe.

Why invest in media in Brussels?
In the past 20 years there’s been a shift of power from other European capitals to Brussels. The fact that all crisis meetings are held in Brussels confirms why Politico, a trendy American media organisation, and Axel Springer, the largest European publishing company, invested in a large newsroom in Brussels. This city has clearly become a decision-making centre. It’s ‘on the map’ in a way that it wasn’t 20 years ago. What happens here is important and needs extensive media coverage. We are the only international political media fully dedicated to covering European politics and policy. Our mission is to cover what’s happening in this town and make Europe more accountable. There are stories behind all the decisions, and many interactions amongst the countries within the European Union.

As our executive editor, Matthew Kaminski, says, we’re not pro-Europe and we’re not Eurosceptic. We don’t take sides like many of the other media in Brussels. We believe there’s a fascinating story to be told on European politics and policy and we’re writing for those powerful people. That’s our primary audience. We are also read by citizens who are passionate about politics. If you’re not interested in politics and policy, you probably won’t come to us. That’s fine. We’re not trying to be a mass media. That’s not our mission. We want to be, in Brussels as in Washington, the most influential media for those who are creating policy, those who love politics. That’s where the name Politico comes from. A politico is someone who is either a politician, someone who influences policy or someone who follows politics closely.

How has Politico been received by Brussels’ politicos?
We’ve had a great welcome by the members of the European Parliament, the Commission and the Council. I think they’re happy to see a media dedicated to covering the European story from a new perspective. Until now there have been three kinds of Brussels media: national outlets covering stories from their countries’ viewpoint; large, international media covering them from a very global angle; and small publications like European Voice. There was a media gap. Policymakers, people travelling between Berlin, Brussels and Washington to craft policies from privacy laws to aviation regulations, those people needed their own media. That’s the group we’re serving with fun, good, reliable, fresh information. Our competitors reacted with a little bit of fear to see us come in with the name and resources of Politico. But our arrival actually reinforced the importance of Brussels and brought more investment across the board. We’re elevating the level of coverage and excellence in journalism. I’m a true capitalist. I think competition is always good.

What are the major challenges facing Europe?
Let’s start with the refugee crisis, which isn’t really a refugee crisis. It’s a political and diplomatic crisis caused by Europe and the West failing in the Middle East. This is a very personal view but what we’re seeing now is the result of years of mismanaging the roots of the problem. And unless it is solved at the roots, it will not be one or two million but 10 million refugees coming into Europe The same thing could be said of Europe’s other challenges like the Brexit question, the Greek crisis and the terrorist threat.

Following the Paris attacks and the Brussels lockdown, how viable now is free movement in the Schengen area? It also raises the question of centralised police and intelligence services. More than the economic crisis, which does exist obviously, there’s an institutional crisis of political decision-making capacity in Europe. Consensus among a group of 28 countries is not easy. All of which makes it fascinating for us to cover.

How can leaders restore stability in the world?
This is another personal view. I think we have a distorted value system. During the Cold War things were much clearer. There were two value systems confronting one another. Today things are more complicated. The G20 is a good example. There are countries in the G20 that are dictatorships and they are allies of Western democracies. Global institutions are trying to accommodate divergent views and interests. China, Russia, the Arab world and the West all have very different value systems. We have to find a way for them to interact together, to find standards and norms that are accepted worldwide. That’s the major challenge.

How do you like living in Belgium?
I’ve been here for two years, ever since the acquisition of European Voice from The Economist. It’s the kind of place that grows on you. I think the longer you’re here, the more you like it. It’s obviously smaller than Paris, where I used to live. There are great restaurants, which is important. The best part is that other capitals are so close. Paris is an hour away, London two hours, Berlin an hour by air. If you travel a lot, this is the perfect location. One challenge is the complexity of the city’s administration. When you’re running a company with a lot of expats – we have about 30 in total – all the different communes with their different forms can get complicated. To be an expat, you have to learn to be patient and get your paperwork done. The good news is the Belgians are very helpful so that makes it easier. I was impressed that we were able to get work permits for our American colleagues.

How do you manage your work-life balance?
To be very honest I don’t do much besides work and family. It’s difficult to do a lot of other things. I have three wonderful children and a wonderful husband. It’s important to take time every evening to spend with family. I’m happy to work at night but I try not to work between 18.00 and 21.00. I spend those hours with my family and after that I get back to work, which happens to fit perfectly with US time. I don’t mind working on holidays. If you enjoy your work, it’s not a problem to do it during holidays. This doesn’t mean we don’t need time off to think or to relax. But if you don’t want to do anything work-related during holidays, it means you don’t like your job. I’m concerned with how children are being brought up here in Europe, with work set against pleasure. I’ve never seen work as a constraint, it’s a part of life. You should enjoy it. That said, I do have a hobby. I love archaeology. I’m happy to be in Belgium, because there were some prominent Belgian archaeologists who contributed to major discoveries in the Middle East from the 1920s onwards.

This article was first published in ING Expat Time