Author Archive

Alexander Fanta

Alexander Fanta is a Google Digital News Fellow at at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, University of Oxford.

Alexander is a foreign affairs journalist and has reported from across Europe and the US, tracking elections, migration and the Eurozone debt crisis. Since 2011, Alexander has worked as a staff writer at the Austrian Press Agency (APA), where his beat includes the OSCE and UN organizations in Vienna. He served as correspondent at the Brussels office around the time of the European Parliament election in 2014 and reported on the Iran nuclear agreement negotiations in Vienna.

Alexander published his first story in a local paper at the age of 18 and has been passionate about journalism ever since. While studying for a Master's degree in Political Science at the University of Vienna, completed in 2009, he built up a range of experience at different newspapers and magazines. Apart from his German-language work for APA, he also writes in English for Vienna-based Metropole magazine.

As an enthusiastic cyclist and hiker, Alexander is worried about the environment and hopes humanity will take decisive action to preserve our nature for future generations.

Some say Austria dodged a bullet last year. After an acrimonious year-long election campaign the Alpine nation elected Alexander Van der Bellen, a veteran Green Party politician, as president last December. He had a margin of 7.5 points over his far-right rival candidate, Norbert Hofer. Centrists, social democrats and liberals all over Europe breathed a sigh of relief, the Guardian remarked. In least in one country, nativist populism had been defeated. Yet, those worried about right-wing populism should not claim victory too soon. The far-right managed to build a strong online presence in this election—one that they will capitalise on in the future. Austria’s 2016 presidential election Austria’s vote echoes some of the most divisive aspects of the US elections held shortly …