Journalism in New Eiffel
The industry of journalism within the erstwhile Principality of New Eiffel was severely lacking and inconsistent. Indeed, all six news publications that existed within the micronation's history were owned, written and edited by the founder and microgenitor of New Eiffel Zabëlle Skye. The first news organisation to be launched in the newly-established principality was the short-lived New Eiffel News between 6 October—9 October 2018, for which Skye wrote 15 articles. Later (around late 2018 and early 2019), Skye ran three different news publication imprints: Grand Italics, Tea Time News and the New Eiffel Times. However, the New Eiffel Times eventually launched an online website hosted on blogpost on 21 March 2019, which published four articles by Skye until 28 December 2019. It ostensibly received an average of 26 page views per post. In a final attempt to run a serious news publication based in New Eiffel, Skye wrote three articles for his Journal en Eiffel—hosted on Google Sites—between 12–15 August, focusing also on intermicronational affairs. It was discontinued after the website experienced technical difficulties. On 1 November, New Eiffel dissolved following an almost year-long crisis.
Background
Prior to the establishment of either the Republic (31 December 2017–4 June 2018) or Kingdom of New Finland (4 June–11 August 2018)—the predecessor states to the Principality of New Eiffel—microgenitor Zabëlle Skye had published several highly amateur newspapers for his family. Today's News! (stylised in all capitals) was published weekly—with occasional interregnum periods—around 2015 and 2016 on a single piece of paper that was placed on the downstairs fridge of the kitchen in the Main Building. Written and illustrated solely by Skye, it was read and enjoyed only by his family.
A spin-off to Today's News!, entitled ZNEWS (pronounced zed news), was published by Skye between circa 28 February until as late as 14 April 2017. The format consisted of four sections: an ordinal list (for instance, the oldest living people), fun fact—entitled Did You Know?!—a drawing by Skye in a section entitled Art, and a section for general news. Notably, the edition featuring a list of the smallest macronational entities by territorial size included the Principality of Sealand, Skye's first indication of possessing the knowledge of an individual micronation.
On 21 May, ZNEWS was launched digitally as Move News and reported on Skye's ZSR Film Reviews business, such as whenever he reviewed a film. It ceased publication only a few days later on 3 June, but was revived on 19 September as ZNEWS (Movie News). This time, the publication focused additionally on film trivia and entertainment, with sections including a random film of the day, film-related humour, news, theatrical releases, trivia and occasionally random thoughts inserted by Skye. Although an Afrikaans-language version was also planned, it was ultimately never created. ZNEWS (Movie News) was hosted on, and distributed to Skye's family via, Apple's note-taking app, utilising a feature allowing for the collaborative editing (sharing) of notes. The publication was discontinued around late December.
New Eiffelic publications
New Eiffel's journalism industry was severely lacking, especially in comparison with Skye's prior news publications. The first news organisation to be launched in the newly-established principality was the short-lived New Eiffel News between 6 October—9 October 2018, for which Skye wrote 15 articles. However, in spite of its lifespan of only three-days, the Royal Archives—the former national archives of New Eiffel which now preserve the erstwhile micronation's history—has declared the news publication's stories as "among the best preserved collections of 2018 New Eiffelic history". Around late 2018 and early 2019, Skye ran three different news publication imprints: Grand Italics, Tea Time News and the New Eiffel Times. This was around the time that New Eiffel was still simulationist.
Nevertheless, the New Eiffel Times eventually launched an online website hosted on blogpost on 21 March 2019, in an attempt to increase awareness of events occurring within the micronation to non-citizens. It published four news articles in total; one on 21 March, 25 March, 18 April and 28 December 2019—all written by Skye, with him using the pseudonym Emily Gréz for the last story. The New Eiffel Times ostensibly received an average of 26 page views per post. After its final publication, Skye ran the satirical Apple News between 9–23 January 2020, during which he oversaw the publication of nine articles in English. With four staff writers, the intermicronational publication was translated into Czech and Afrikaans.
In a final attempt to run a serious news publication based in New Eiffel, Skye wrote three articles for his Journal en Eiffel—hosted on Google Sites—between 12–15 August. Focusing also on intermicronational affairs, the website experienced technical difficulties, leading Skye to abandon the publication. On 1 November, New Eiffel dissolved following an almost year-long crisis.
Press freedom
New Eiffel's press initially had "noticeable problems" according to criteria set forth by the macronational Press Freedom Index. Indeed, New Eiffel had moderate press censorship; as Skye, the head of state of New Eiffel, controlled all media, the government was technically free to censor articles at will. However, Skye rarely (if ever) enacted these powers, especially after December 2019.
List
An alphabetical list of former publications in the erstwhile New Eiffel:
| Publication | First published | Last published | Stories |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Apple News | 9 January 2020 | 23 January 2020 | 7 |
| Grand Italics | ~Late 2018 | ~Early 2019 | Unknown |
| New Eiffel News | 6 October 2018 | 9 October 2018 | 15 |
| The New Eiffel Times | ~Late 2018 | 28 December 2019 | >4 |
| Tea Time News | ~Late 2018 | ~Early 2019 | Unknown |
| Journal en Eiffel | 12 August 2020 | 15 August 2020 | 3 |
See also
External links
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