Owned 50/50 by Gadowski and editor Alexander Gorlach, the site has 20 writers. TC: “Articles sit alongside personal contributions from political heavyweights like European Commission President José Manuel Barroso, German car producers association’s president Matthias Wissmann or bishop Margot Käßmann.”

But Gadowski says: “Profit is not my key intention at The European.”

HufPo by no means invented the concept of independently aggregating news opinion, but the admiration it has garnered doing so is inspiring others to have a go as the conventional medium for delivering such content, newspaper, wanes.

There’s a new independent publishing landgrab underway in verticals suddenly considered open for opportunity - but don’t bet against there being a big shake-out over the next couple of years, as the market settles on exactly who will grow to replace the dead trees.