Messages in the Media - University of Toronto

7
INTRODUCTION
In October of last year, when we first discussed the
idea of producing a European Studies Students' Association
Journal, we were unsure of what it would look like when
complete. After many meetings and conversations, we decided
to compile a comprehensive media analysis of how
European Union Member States' popular media depicted
the European Union and what issues and trends emerged
in their relations over the course of 2011. While our original
vision was to have reports on all twenty-seven Member
States, due to the difficulty of finding participants who
were both willing and had the necessary language skills, we
were only able to cover eighteen Member States. In addition
to these, we have included four reports on nations who
have a profound effect on both the current state and future
of the European Union. Although the final product is more
limited in scope than originally anticipated, the diverse
community of the University of Toronto made the realization
of this journal much easier; outside of this environment
it would have been an insurmountable obstacle to
locate so many people with multilingual proficiency. We
are all incredibly pleased with the result of our analysts'
efforts, and hope that next year we will be able to build
upon the success of this year and realize our original vision
of providing reports on all European Union Member States.
The massive undertaking that this journal proved
to be, not only due to its limited timeline, but also because
of it being the first of its kind, was greatly lightened
through the assistance, support, and encouragement we
received from both faculty, members of the community,
and our peers.