EJO was founded in 2004 in Switzerland by Marcello Foa, then chief foreign correspondent of the Italian newspaper Il Giornale, and Stephan Russ-Mohl, Professor of Journalism and Media Management at the Università della Svizzera italiana in Lugano. Foa is currently president of the Italian public service broadcaster RAI in Rome. Russ-Mohl is now professor emeritus of the Università della Svizzera italiana and lives in Berlin, where he continues his work as a researcher, journalist and consultant – including to EJO.