{"id":2,"date":"2006-11-26T18:22:10","date_gmt":"2006-11-26T18:22:10","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2012-05-31T18:41:14","modified_gmt":"2012-05-31T17:41:14","slug":"about","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/jcm.org.uk\/blog\/about\/","title":{"rendered":"About"},"content":{"rendered":"

This is a Wordpress-powered version of Europhobia<\/strong><\/a>, an EU politics blog founded back in March 2003<\/strong>. This somehow makes it one of the longest-running European politics blogs out there.<\/p>\n

It is dedicated (mostly) to politics and international relations from an Anglo-European perspective<\/strong>, with a particular focus on the European Union.<\/p>\n

Is this site pro- or anti-EU?<\/h2>\n

The politics here is centrist, non-partisan and critically<\/strong> pro-EU, though it’s not as simple as that makes it sound.<\/p>\n

Hell, if my relationship with the EU was on Facebook, it’d have to be labelled “It’s complicated”.<\/p>\n

I’m a former eurosceptic who can occasionally slip back that way, and more in favour of the idea<\/strong> of the EU than the current reality. I grew up with one uncle working for the European Commission, while another ended up standing for the UK Independence Party in the 1997 UK general election on a “quit the EU” ticket.<\/p>\n

A more detailed explanation of the site’s political stance can be found here<\/a>, with a shorter version here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In May 2012 I revised my views a little, calling for an EU Reformation<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Because the EU tends to spark strong emotions, please do check out the comments policy<\/strong><\/a> before joining in the discussions. (Short version:<\/strong> All views are welcome, and I positively encourage debate and disagreement – but keep it civil and on topic.)<\/p>\n

Why “EUtopia”?<\/h2>\n

a) Because of the European Union focus.<\/p>\n

b) Because a utopia is an ideal society, and it’s arguable that the EU is striving towards that.<\/p>\n

c) Thomas More’s Utopia was fictional – it doesn’t exist. Much like an ideal society – and much like the ideal of a perfect EU.<\/p>\n

d) I like bad puns.<\/p>\n

Why “Nosemonkey”?<\/h2>\n

No reason whatsoever – it’s merely a hang-on from my early days using the web, when *everyone* seemed to have a stupid, meaningless pseudonym.<\/p>\n

What’s the focus?<\/h2>\n

Since 2008 the blog has begun to (occasionally) diversify into European history and culture, and the tagline shifted to “In search of a European identity” to reflect the new focus. Largely because I’m not sure if there IS such a thing.<\/p>\n

Politics and current affairs still play a strong part, but the theme is now politics and Europe in their broadest possible sense. More explanation here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Who is Nosemonkey?<\/h2>\n

Nosemonkey is J Clive Matthews<\/a><\/strong> – a writer, editor and online content consultant whose work has cropped up everywhere from the Times Literary Supplement<\/a> to B2B magazines, openDemocracy<\/a> to various<\/a> books<\/a> (some of which have even made second editions<\/a>).<\/p>\n

He is currently working for Microsoft as Managing Editor of the MSN International Editorial Solutions team, working on content specials across all subjects for a generalist audience in 50+ countries and more than 25 languages around the world.<\/p>\n

His political knowledge comes from a couple of stints as researcher to a (then) member of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee at the House of Commons, a short period working at the European Commission in Brussels (unpaid work experience), a postgrad degree in history, and an obsession with current affairs and international relations going back years.<\/p>\n

In 2008 he made the five-man shortlist for the inaugural UACES-Reuters Reporting Europe Award<\/a> alongside the likes of the Europe Editors of the BBC and The Economist<\/em>. Which was nice. In 2010 he was awarded the European Parliament Prize for Journalism<\/a> – despite having serious reservations<\/a> about the very concept of such an award.<\/p>\n

More endorsements can be found on the testimonials<\/a> page.<\/p>\n

In 2010, he was named Winner in the Internet category of the European Parliament Prize for Journalism<\/a>.<\/p>\n

For more detailed information, check out his CV<\/a>.<\/p>\n

If you want to get in touch, email nosemonkey [at] gmail.com<\/strong>, or leave a comment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This is a Wordpress-powered version of Europhobia, an EU politics blog founded back in March 2003. This somehow makes it one of the longest-running European politics blogs out there. It is dedicated (mostly) to politics and international relations from an … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-2","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jcm.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jcm.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jcm.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jcm.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jcm.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/jcm.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2168,"href":"https:\/\/jcm.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2\/revisions\/2168"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jcm.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}