East Journal

In 2009, journalist Matteo Zola opened a blog about former Soviet countries. The Berlin Wall had fallen 20 years before, but he felt that "a wall of mistrust and stereotypes" still stood, even though those countries were under a process of integration within the European Union.

The blog was open to external contributions, and a group of researchers soon joined. In 2010, the team decided to start a registered digital publication. At that time, the scope was limited to Central Europe, but since 2015, it has included the Balkans and Baltic countries, Ukraine, and Russia.

Its name is East Journal because the co-founders were optimistic that they would write in English, but they never did.

Zola said: "A posteriori, we would have chosen the name Most (in Serbo-Croatian: bridge), as our mission is to build a bridge between journalism and academia, as well as between West and East." Most is the actual name of the association they founded to sustain the publication. This legal entity allows them to receive individual donations and cover overheads.

East Journal's newsroom consists of 50 country experts. It publishes long-form and explanatory articles using accessible language. The objective is to provide the audience with an internal viewpoint from all the countries covered. Although the newsroom works voluntarily, it publishes at least two daily articles.

Matteo Zola remarked: "We have no money, but our strong identity makes us stand out." In fact, content is often republished, and the media organisation partners with other specialised publications, such as OBCT. The team would like to apply for grants, but it hasn't had the energy to do it because East Journal is not the team members' primary job.