You love dKos? You enjoy the many thoughtful and informative diaries on every topic under the sun? You'd like to read even more stuff about other countries, international affairs, what people care about, what they are talking about? But you'd like it all in own convenient place, where you can comment, and discuss with many people? An international version of dKos maybe?
Well, here it is!
The
European Tribune is born from that desire to see an international version of dKos. Markos has chosen to focus on US politics, and that focus is what makes his site such a formidable tool, uniting a great many progressive activists in one place where ideas can be tested, opinions shaped, and action organised. The combination of the formidable scoop software, kos's talent and a massive community makes this site a great soapbox for everybody and is a model that begs to be replicated for other areas of discussion than US politics.
I have been around here for a number of months now, I have taken advantage of that soapbox on many occasions, and met a number of other European kossacks on the site, and many of us have dreamt of having a similar site to discuss European politics and stories in more detail. Sadly, lacking in the IT and other requisite competences, this was just a dream for me - until the day when Booman kindly invited me to join him on his new site, which you've probably heard of by now, Booman Tribune, which works like Kos, with Scoop, and the usual front page/diaries structure. And so, while Booman Tribune was taking off, we started working together on a new site, using the same architecture than Booman Tribune, but making it a completely separate site.
And so I am pleased to officially announce the opening of the European Tribune today. You will find the familiar feel of kos, and what we hope you will find an attractive initial front page crew, with:
There will be a couple of other surprises and "guest stars". We are pleased to count Booman, SusanG and SusanHu as friendly supporters of this site, and we hope that they will drop by once in a while. We will also be keen to expand when we find dedicated writers from other countries, to bring as varied a coverage as possible of issues.
Despite its name, European Tribune will not focus solely on Europe, and we certainy invite all international kossacks to come and create their own niche, they will be more than welcome. The name simply reflects the origins of some of the principals, and the topics they know most about and will hopefully cover smartly and extensively...
So we invite you to come and join us, comment, write diaries, and help us create a thriving community. And while this is certainly going to keep us busy, we certainly do not intend to desert dKos, quite the opposite. We'll crosspost just enough to tempt you to come over for more, and I'll certainly be around to cover Bubbles Greenspan and Peak Oil...
May I kindly ask you to recommend this diary so that as many people as possible can see it. I have voluntarily posted in the European morning, when most of the American kossacks are not around, but we hope that those that are interested by a more international site can hear about it as well. Thanks!
And come have a look, log in (there are still low UIDs to be found...), and make it the place you want it to be!