The Battleground
The Battleground counters false narratives eroding trust in politics and media.
The Battleground - Europe and Beyond
The Battleground is a Brussels-based nonprofit, independent media organisation that provides big-picture analysis and reflection on the stories of our time.
Our tagline, 'Focusing on democracy, diversity, and culture in Europe and beyond,' attests to the international nature of our publications. The Battleground’s content highlights geopolitical context and perspective, bridging continents and cultures. It mixes political analysis with social commentary on current affairs.
Established by independent press professionals to break new ground, The Battleground is an innovative media platform that promotes quality, ethical journalism with a personal touch. The ambition is to set a new standard for what journalism ought to do in Europe, if not worldwide.
Our Mission
- Fight false narratives
- Defend democracy
- Combat racism
- Expose extremism
- Promote diversity
- Champion ethical journalism
We conceived of The Battleground on Armistice Day 2018, one hundred years after the end of the First World War. We named it The Battleground to reflect the battle for human rights, the rule of law, and fundamental freedoms.
This ambition did not emerge in a vacuum. Since the 2008 financial crisis, Europe has been repeatedly destabilised by conflicts on its eastern periphery, terrorism, refugees, and the far right. Most of the media we’d worked for failed to cover this. The Battleground was our answer.
Our decision has proved correct given the events of the six years since our founding. The Battleground is the only progressive English-language media in the European Union that tackles such topics, and we have a growing global audience to show for it. In 2024, our readership reached 500,000, with almost half located in North America.
Given the far-right political drift in Europe and beyond, staying the course and remaining a voice of reason and tolerance has inspired us like no other project we’ve worked on. Our growth has inspired us to take chances and exceed our expectations.
Our Work
The Battleground has published over 2000 long-form articles and 10,000 original photos, launched new branded formats such as our ebook series Battleground Books, and political field recording albums under the Battleground Sounds imprint.
Our editors publish regular reviews of films, music, books, and political features and conduct candid conversations about ideas and events on our podcasts. They’re a very inspired bunch at the height of their journalistic careers.
Our Reach
The majority of our audience is between 18 and 44. We are heavily read by our peers, journalists, and other EU media, who increasingly follow our lead. We’re regarded as a publisher’s publisher in the Brussels media bubble.
The Battleground is a window onto Europe, the background instead of the foreground, the democratic instead of the populist. Reflecting shared values and diversity - in Europe and beyond.
We break the rules and make new ones. It’s a great place to be.
Belgium
Fundraisers
Official fundraiser
Book and Record Support
The Battleground isn’t just for articles. We’re a book and record publisher, too. We complement our politics and culture commissions with Battleground author anthologies and field recording full-lengths. 2025 will continue this tradition. The budget for these releases is for their design, production and promotion. Our book and audio imprints, Battleground Books and Battleground Sounds , will publish them. A book on Donald Trump’s first term by our US editor, John Foster; Our first photo book, on migrants and minorities in Italy, by our Turin-based editor-in-chief, Joel Schalit; A collection of essays on Israeli politics by Jewish Voice for Peace co-founder and former B’tselem US director Mitchell Plitnick; The first of a two-album series of field recordings of refugees and migrants in the Mediterranean region by Vance Galloway and Joel Schalit; Field recordings of the Heathrow Airport runway-adjacent London borough of Hounslow, by Duncan Simpson; Protests against the Gaza war in Turin and Milan, recorded by Joel Schalit; 24 podcasts promoting these publications, to be broadcast throughout 2025.
- Raised
- $0
- Goal
- $30,000
Official fundraiser
Populist Propaganda Platforms
Why They’re Undermining News Media and What We Can Do About It Newspapers aren’t dead. But, if populists have anything to say about it, their influence is declining. Social media have broken their monopolies, whether used by Spain’s Vox, Italy’s Lega per Salvini Premier, or Germany’s Alternative für Deutschland. By providing news, information, and ideas in line with party policies as reporting and fact while belittling journalism for bias and manipulation, populist parties present themselves as the new news media. A people’s news media, to be precise, made by the people, for the people, not the elites. It may not produce news, but its blogging of political commentary and aggregation of news content from far-right sources works the same for many. The platforms are familiar. Relying on Facebook, Twitter, TikTok and Instagram, populists decry Islam, wokeness, feminism and transgender to devastating effect. As a result, social media have given populist parties unprecedented reach and influenced European politics and culture in ways not seen since the 1930s, when authoritarian governments more tightly controlled the media. The proof is in the pudding. Users substitute their messaging for reportage from newspapers and broadcasters. Doing so helps confirm populist parties' role as information providers, blurring the distinction between publishing and politics. What's often overlooked about populist news is that it is propaganda published by political parties acting as a media, one that replaces the "lügenpresse" or false media, as the current popularity of the Nazi-era term in Germany suggests. How did we get to such a point? Is it just a consequence of the citizen journalism opportunities created by online and social media, or is it a reflection of a more significant breakdown of public trust in journalism? We intend to answer that. The Battleground will conduct extensive interviews with followers of populist parties and far-right news outlets in Belgium, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom who have switched from journalistic to party media platforms, including podcasts. Our journalists will also spend equal time examining populist media's audience and engagement data. Often criticised for inflating their following, our study will provide a critical contrast to complement the insights gleaned from our interviews. The Battleground aims to understand why Europeans have abandoned the mainstream press, exchanging it for disinformation and incitement, and make recommendations about improving journalism and press regulation to redress the problem. Project publications will include regular online articles, newsletters and podcasts by our journalists working across Europe. The best of these publications will be featured in an anthology, which Battleground Books will issue after completing this project.
- Raised
- $0
- Goal
- $75,000
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