As the Manchester newspaper lately is making clear: Britain is leaving Europe. The Guardian is not.
The result is a series called “This is Europe,” and accordingly, since I’ve just cancelled our subscription to The New York Times (no David Brooks or Thomas Friedman, ever again — the dipshits), I plan to up the yearly tithe to The Guardian.
First things first. This pictorial was exhilarating and depressing in equal measure. Surely one of these 27 countries will take us in as refugees from American “exceptionalism.” Looking at these views and contemplating these places makes me yearn.
Our Europe: 27 things we love about the continent
To celebrate Europe, writers in all 27 EU countries share a favourite place that evokes the spirit of their nation.
Somehow the photo of Mystra, Greece was omitted, so I found one and posted it here. I’ve been to all these countries save on (Cyprus), and if time permits, it would be fun to offer my own choice of favorite places experienced during the past 35 years of traveling.+
Here’s an excerpt from The Guardian editor Katharine Viner’s introduction to the series of articles about Europe.
Today we are making a renewed and deeper commitment to reporting on every aspect of Europe – the continent, its people, its politics, institutions, economy and culture.
The Guardian is a European news organisation with a close relationship with our large and committed audience in Europe. And we believe readers, from Paris to Porto, Madrid to Munich, want journalism that tries to understand our continent better and to explore hopeful solutions to the crises and challenges facing it. At this critical moment in history, where many are turning to disengagement, introspection and national self-interest, we will stay open to shared perspectives and the public sphere.
We will interview and challenge European leaders. We will tease out trends and dig into the data that tells us why life is different in Copenhagen, Cardiff and Cádiz. We will focus on the things that unite us as Europeans: culture, food, business, the arts, sport, books, science, health, ideas.From now on, European voices, issues and people will be more visible and present across everything we publish, from our news pages to opinion, to culture to fashion and beyond …
… From Monday we will launch a dedicated space on our digital front page with news from, and about, European issues – take a look at theguardian.com. We are relaunching our curated This is Europe newsletter, covering all things European, which will now be weekly – readers can sign up here. And in future we will also host live events in Europe to bring our readers and supporters together.
In Europe today, crises and challenges – migration, the environment, populism, the digital revolution, contagious diseases – almost always transcend national borders. But so does the Guardian, as a genuinely transnational publisher. As Britain moves further from the EU in political terms, we know many of our readers both in the UK and across Europe remain as interested as ever in common themes and common ground, in all that we share. We will meet that need by informing Britain about Europe, Europe about Britain, and
Europeans about each other.