ESNA European Higher Education News

ESNA originates from LETSWORK Journal for Student Work, a quarterly journal that was first published in 1999 by the student labour agency TUSMA in Berlin.[5] TUSMA provided 20,000 international students with jobs and started LETSWORK as a cross-cultural channel to advise students on immigration and labour laws.

In 2002, LETSWORK evolved into WORK|OUT European Students’ Review, published by the cultural association Letswork e.V. in Berlin.[6] This new incarnation published free and multilingual news in cooperation with students in German, French, Italian, Polish and Spanish university cities. It also organised conferences and cultural events in Italy and Germany.[7]

In 2004 and 2005, WORK|OUT won the Italian national award for innovative content and solutions in print and multimedia, the Premio Palinsesta Italia.[8] In 2006, WORK|OUT was recognised as one of the ten best student papers in Germany.[9][10] 2006 also saw the emergence of Europe for Students (EforS). EforS was an offshoot of WORK|OUT designed to link European students with one another. EforS was named Best Web Performance by the MLP Campus Press Award after seven months of activity.[11] EforS has since developed into CityiLike and provides social city guides.[12]

As WORK|OUT moved away from its earlier student-centred interests into the broader area of higher education policy and management, the students’ review was beginning to develop into a separate organisation. Finally, in 2008 the core group of WORK|OUT saw the need for a new professional channel and ESNA European Higher Education News was founded.

Since 2014, ESNA has been active in the area of video journalism, collaborating with the film company Caucaso from Bologna. Caucaso's most notable work to date is the film, The Golden Temple.

ESNA’s news network consists of young journalists focusing on European higher education news, analysis, developments, conferences and events.[13] Issues covered include: international university rankings, international student recruitment, globalisation and higher education research[14], as well as tertiary education systems,[15] policies and reforms,[16] higher education funding and liberalisation. ESNA also covers EU policy and the Bologna Process,[13] with an interest in highlighting social and financial barriers to participation, academic mobility and intercultural dialogue in higher education.[17]

ESNA manages a network of correspondents across Europe.[18][19][20] It currently operates on four levels:

1. Editorial office in Berlin
2. Correspondents/freelance journalists
3. A network of expert analysts
4. Partner organisations and partner media

Network building and reader engagement are integral to ESNA’s modus operandi.[21] Another way ESNA integrates with the scientific community is through the organisation and moderation of conferences.[22][23] The news agency also offers internships on a bi-annual basis for international students and graduates.[24]

ESNA is an independent journalistic observer and publisher of objective information. They translate news stories from their original languages into English and German to promote easier access to articles pertaining to European higher education and science policy. In April 2005, ESNA’s forerunner WORK|OUT organised a conference on Censorship and Free Media at the Università Iuav di Venezia. At this event, Peter Preston, then editor of the Guardian newspaper, helped to inspire ESNA’s mission, which was to be founded three years later. Mr Preston stated that “It’s the bit that Europe’s founding fathers left out. We are building a great new edifice of freedom without a free press which mirrors and shadows that growth. This has to emerge from the ground up, built on individual contacts and individual enthusiasms. We have to start building our own public opinion, and the moment is now.”[7]