French presidential election candidate Emmanuel Macron speaks to journalists | John MacDougall/AFP via Getty Images EU to fund two European data news hubs Almost €2 million will go to European Data News Hub and European Data Journalism Network.

The European Commission is providing nearly €1.95 million in funding for two journalism websites launching this year.

Three major European news agencies, AFP, DPA and ANSA will launch the European Data News Hub in June, while more than a dozen news organizations are behind the European Data Journalism Network, which will begin operations in October.

Both organizations and the Commission insist there will be full editorial independence.

The European Data News Hub service will receive €981,000 over two years, said Vincent Burgaud, a spokesperson for AFP.

The organization says it will provide data-driven content about European politics in English, German, French, Spanish and Italian, and will not charge users for access to its content.

OpenDataCity will provide additional content, including audience polling tools that media organizations would be free to integrate into their own websites.

The European Data Journalism Network will compete with EDNH, and says it may offer content in up to 12 European languages.

According to GianPaolo Accardo, editor of of VoxEurop, a member of the European Data Journalism Network, the group will be “providing news media across Europe with trustworthy and rigorous content and support, and providing the general public with valuable editorial tools for better understanding Europe.”

Organizations involved in the network include Spiegel Online (Germany), NRC Handelsblad (Netherlands), El Confidential (Spain) and Ouest-France, plus an offshoot of Poland’s Gazeta Wyborcza known as BIQdata.

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