Reporting alone is not enough to comprehend international issues. One must also bridge the gaps between policy, humanity, and cultural nuances. Mila Tanghe emerges as a visionary in geopolitical journalism and ethical storytelling, transforming dense analyses into narratives that resonate across borders. She decodes complexity while putting human dignity first, having worked in conflict zones in Ukraine, New York’s media centers, and the diplomatic corridors of Brussels.
Fluent in French, Dutch, and English, Tanghe’s transatlantic lens challenges conventional perspectives, ensuring marginalized voices shape mainstream discourse. Raised in a multilingual European heritage, Tanghe’s career embodies a passion for intellectual discipline and intercultural understanding. At the Center for European Policy Analysis (CEPA), she analyzes insights to predict Eastern Europe’s security change. Her reporting on the Ukraine invasion for RTLTVI balanced unflinching accounts of displacement with profound respect for survivors’ agency. Beyond headlines, Tanghe recruits professionals into Human Rights Watch’s NextGen Initiative, proving finance and policy experts can drive grassroots change.
From co-editing the anthology No One Ever Asked to create the visual, Whether she is creating important briefings for CNN’s Amanpour or evaluating corporate PR strategies for Belgian audiences, she always upholds the same standard. Tanghe discusses her philosophy of ethical journalism, the skill of converting policy jargon into understandable terms for the general public, and her vision for a media environment that values subtlety over volume in an exclusive conversation with New York Art Life. Join us as we explore how Mila Tanghe reshapes global storytelling—one rigorously crafted narrative at a time.
New York Art Life: Your background in journalism and specialization in complex subjects such as foreign policy are commendable. For CEPA, you’ve undertaken expert interviews about foreign policy within Central and Eastern Europe. Can you take us through your interview preparation process and present an example of how you have framed complex geopolitical observations into compelling content?
Mila Tanghe: Thank you! I make sure to begin with exhaustive background research and I spend much time immersing myself in the expert’s previous publications and recorded talks. Naturally, I love reading books and listening to people, so I like that I get to do those things and I really love it when I gain knowledge or hear unique perspectives. I also enjoy writing down my thoughts along the way, so I remember to ask them in the interviews.
Regarding challenges, I think the most challenging aspect is transforming these often technical discussions into accessible narratives. For example, while reporting on sanctions targeting Russia’s shadow fleet, I faced the challenge of translating a highly technical and rapidly evolving subject into an engaging and accessible narrative. Sanctions enforcement involves multiple jurisdictions, varying legal frameworks, and opaque ownership structures—making it difficult to assess their actual impact on shadow fleet operations. I spoke with experts who often had differing views on what the sanctions could realistically achieve, given how recent and dynamic the developments were. Weaving those nuanced perspectives into a clear, compelling piece meant balancing precision with readability, all while capturing the broader stakes of maritime sanctions policy.
New York Art Life: That’s excellent! Also, we highly commend your collaboration on significant projects, such as ‘No One Ever Asked.’ This anthology of sixteen nonfiction short stories showcases your strong teamwork and communication skills. In co-writing ‘No One Ever Asked,’ how did the collaborative writing and editing process work for this collection, and what were the biggest challenges you faced when bringing multiple voices together in a cohesive work?
Mila Tanghe: I’m so proud of doing that project. I’m glad that we had an organic and structured collaborative process. We always shared raw and unpolished drafts for constructive criticism. Additionally, we created a comprehensive style guide that standardized technical elements while preserving each writer’s distinctive tone. Nonetheless, the biggest challenge was negotiating the ethical complexities of others’ stories. We established an intense fact-checking procedure and consent process, sometimes having to make the tough decision of eliminating powerful details that could not be verified or might inadvertently cause harm. This tension between the authority of narrative and ethical obligation became the core of our editorial debates. Despite these challenges, watching the disparate stories transform into an interconnected exploration of unspoken experiences was profoundly rewarding, especially when readers began telling us they found echoes of their own unasked questions within our pages.
New York Art Life: You wrote and edited “Nplus2,” a Columbia Journalism School magazine of history and memoir. We are also impressed by your versatility in covering both content production and design for journalism. How did you ensure the visuals were complemented instead of detracting from the stories?
Mila Tanghe: My approach to Nplus2’s visual identity was rooted in the principle that design must serve the story. Since the project lived on Medium—a platform where text and visuals compete for attention—I focused on creating a symbiotic relationship between the two. I studied the narrative’s emotional core to ensure the photos were aligned. I collaborated closely with writers to identify key themes, then iterated on visuals to ensure they amplified, rather than overshadowed, the text. We also prioritized white space and pacing to let readers sit with the weight of the stories. The goal was to make the design feel like an extension of the voice on the page—subtle but impossible to separate from the reading experience.
New York Art Life: Your experience at Weber Shandwick, where you wrote press materials for major corporations, highlights your understanding of the intricate dynamics between public relations and journalism. How did your experience writing press materials for major corporations shape your knowledge of the relationship between PR and journalism?
Mila Tanghe: My time crafting press materials for global corporations like Novartis and IBM fundamentally transformed my understanding of public relations and journalism’s complex, symbiotic relationship. Working behind the corporate communications curtain revealed the meticulous, often painstaking process through which information is constructed before it reaches journalists’ inboxes. Each carefully calibrated press release represented dozens of internal negotiations, legal reviews, and strategic decisions—revealing how corporate narratives are deliberately shaped long before journalists encounter them.
This experience made me aware of the invisible architecture underlying seemingly straightforward corporate announcements. When drafting materials for a major pharmaceutical product launch, I witnessed how specific word choices were debated intensely for their potential market impact and regulatory implications. This insider perspective has made me a significantly more skeptical and perceptive journalist, able to detect the subtle positioning behind corporate communications and identify what might be strategically omitted.
Paradoxically, my PR experience fostered greater empathy for communications professionals operating under intense constraints. I now see that most corporate officials truly aim for truthfulness within their institutional boundaries. This awareness allows me to create more effective working relationships with PR sources. I can pose more accurate, knowledgeable questions that respect institutional limitations but further my journalistic objectives.
New York Art Life: Your internship with the Amanpour program showcases your dedication to maintaining high journalistic standards in a professional setting.
The Amanpour program reaches over 500,000 viewers. How did you ensure the background briefs you prepared maintained the journalistic standards expected for such a high-profile platform?
Mila Tanghe: Preparing background briefs for Amanpour’s distinguished interview subjects required an exacting approach to accuracy and nuance that I’ve carried into all my subsequent work. I implemented a rigorous three-stage verification system for every factual claim, cross-referencing information across diverse, authoritative sources while remaining intensely skeptical of convenient narratives that seemed too perfectly aligned with prevailing perspectives.
The high-stakes environment of these interviews—frequently with prominent political figures or experts on controversial international matters—meant that even the most minor factual mistakes would jeopardize the program’s hard-won credibility or betray Christiane’s capability for piercing questioning. This weighty responsibility led me to develop an almost obsessive attention to detail. For particularly complex or controversial topics, I created comprehensive source documentation that tracked every assertion back to multiple primary sources. This is because I need to quickly verify any contested points during live interviews.
Beyond factual accuracy, I focused on surfacing the deeper historical and ideological layers that gave the story its weight. Ahead of a segment on The Devil’s Confession, a documentary built around long-lost recordings of Adolf Eichmann, I conducted extensive research into the broader context in which the tapes were made — from Eichmann’s postwar life in Argentina and the Nazi networks there, to the Israeli state’s motivations during the trial and why the tapes remained buried for decades. I also investigated how the series challenges the enduring myth of Eichmann as a mere bureaucrat by exposing his unapologetic, ideological antisemitism in his own voice. That research helped frame the interview not just around the documentary, but around memory, denial, and the political uses of history — opening space for a conversation that resonated on multiple levels.
Perhaps most importantly, I learned to recognize and counter my own potential biases by deliberately seeking out reputable sources with competing interpretations of events. This intellectual humility—acknowledging that even carefully researched perspectives remain incomplete—was essential to maintaining the journalistic integrity that Amanpour viewers rightfully expect.
New York Art Life: Your reporting on the Ukraine invasion at RTLTVI is a significant experience that likely impacted your approach to journalism. In what ways did covering the Ukraine invasion change your perspective on conflict reporting or your approach to journalism more broadly?
Mila Tanghe: Covering the Russian invasion of Ukraine fundamentally transformed my understanding of conflict journalism on both professional and deeply personal levels.
The most immediate change was recognizing the extraordinary emotional weight carried by seemingly routine journalistic decisions. While interviewing French-speaking Ukrainian civilians, each question I asked represented a potential trigger for additional trauma. This forced me to develop a more compassionate interviewing technique—allowing silence to breathe, creating space for emotional responses without exploitation, and recognizing when to simply stop recording. The unbearable tension between documenting crucial testimonies and respecting human dignity in extreme circumstances continues to inform every sensitive story I cover.
New York Art Life: Your contributions to Columbia News Service highlight your adaptability in journalism, along with your reporting for a Belgian financial newspaper. How do you adapt your journalistic approach when writing for an international audience versus an American one?
Mila Tanghe: Writing for Belgian audiences versus American audiences requires substantive adaptations that extend far beyond superficial stylistic changes. For European readers, mainly in Belgium’s multilingual context, I write with the assumption of considerable baseline knowledge about EU institutions and regional political dynamics. When covering EU regulatory decisions for the Belgian newspaper, I can reference the complex interplay between the Commission, Parliament, and Council without extensive explanation.
With American audiences, I’ve learned to provide essential contextual scaffolding without appearing condescending. This means strategically incorporating explanatory elements that clarify unfamiliar systems or historical contexts that shape current European developments. Perhaps the most significant adaptation involves framing relevance differently. When covering Belgian pharmaceutical innovations, industry implications themselves warranted coverage; for American publications, I needed to establish clear links to potential impacts on U.S. healthcare or highlight compelling personal narratives of researchers involved.
I’ve also developed sensitivity to distinctive informational expectations. European readers typically prefer comprehensive analysis with multiple interpretative layers, while American audiences often value clear narrative arcs and more definitive conclusions.
New York Art Life: That’s excellent. Your career spanning Europe and the United States provides you with a unique perspective on cross-cultural communication. We also want to ask: how have cultural differences influenced your professional communication style?
Mila Tanghe: The transatlantic dimensions of my career have profoundly shaped my communication approach, requiring continuous adaptation across subtly different professional cultures. In European professional contexts, particularly in Brussels’ multilingual environment, I learned to appreciate the value of measured understatement and contextual awareness. Communications often emphasized institutional perspectives over individual viewpoints, with careful attention to historical nuances that might influence interpretation. This environment taught me to develop sophisticated qualifying statements and to acknowledge multiple perspectives before presenting my own analysis—skills that proved invaluable when navigating complex EU policy discussions.
The American professional landscape offered striking contrasts, rewarding more assertive communication styles and explicitly articulating individual viewpoints. I initially found classroom discussions jarringly direct compared to the more circuitous European seminars I was accustomed to. This cultural shift required me to develop a more decisive framing for my ideas while maintaining the contextual depth I valued from my European background. Finding this balance was occasionally uncomfortable but ultimately enriched my ability to communicate effectively across different expectations.
Perhaps the most valuable lesson emerged from navigating these different communication cultures simultaneously during my freelance work. While based in New York, writing for European publications created occasional cognitive dissonance but ultimately fostered a dual perspective that strengthened my reporting. I developed a professional chameleon quality—able to adjust my communication style depending on whether I was interviewing American political analysts (where direct questions about specific positions were expected) or European diplomats (where more indirect approaches often yielded richer information). These experiences taught me that effective communication isn’t about adopting a single “correct” style but instead developing cultural fluency while maintaining authentic content.
New York Art Life: Based on your diverse experiences across different media outlets and continents, what do you believe are the five most essential qualities every journalist should possess today, and how have you personally cultivated these qualities in your own career?
Mila Tanghe: The most indispensable qualities for modern journalists transcend technological skills or specific beat knowledge—they’re foundational attributes that determine how effectively we serve our core mission in an increasingly complex information landscape.
First and foremost is rigorous intellectual honesty. This goes beyond essential factual accuracy to encompass a willingness to question one’s assumptions and preconceptions. When covering contentious NATO policy debates at CEPA, I deliberately constructed interview panels featuring thoughtful experts with fundamentally different strategic assessments. These uncomfortable but illuminating conversations consistently produced more nuanced reporting than would have emerged from speaking only with voices that reinforced my initial framework.The second essential quality is genuine curiosity coupled with methodical persistence. The most revealing insights rarely emerge from obvious sources or first-round questioning. I’ve cultivated this persistence by establishing personal reporting rules—never concluding research until I’ve pursued at least three lines of inquiry beyond what seems sufficient and constantly asking one more question after I think an interview is complete.
Third is contextual intelligence. Putting isolated developments into historical, cultural, and institutional contexts. This trait has become even more essential with accelerating news cycles and fractured audience attention. At my CNN internship, I saw how Christiane Amanpour’s excellent contextual intelligence enabled her to prepare interviews that defied the breaking news cycle, producing content of enduring value.Fourth is empathetic listening. Creating genuine connections with sources across different backgrounds and perspectives. While reporting on Ukrainian refugees for RTLTVI, I found that my most valuable interviews came only after establishing authentic human connections beyond the transactional journalist-subject relationship. I’ve worked to strengthen this capacity through formal interview training and regular immersion in unfamiliar communities where I must navigate as an outsider seeking understanding.
Finally, and perhaps most fundamentally, is ethical courage—the willingness to make difficult professional decisions based on core journalistic values rather than convenience, consensus, or career advantage. Whether declining to publish compelling but insufficiently verified details in ‘No One Ever Asked,’ or pushing back against editorial pressure to simplify complex geopolitical realities, these moments define our integrity as journalists. I cultivate this quality through regular conversations with trusted mentors who help me navigate ethically ambiguous situations and maintain clear personal boundaries about the compromises I will and won’t make in my reporting.
Mila Tanghe’s work reminds us that journalism at its best is both a mirror and a compass—reflecting complex truths while guiding us toward deeper understanding. Through her relentless pursuit of dissecting NATO policy or amplifying silenced voices, she challenges audiences to see global affairs not as abstract concepts but as human stories demanding ethical engagement. As borders blur and narratives collide, Tanghe’s approach offers a blueprint for bridging divides with integrity. Stay connected with New York Art Life for more conversations with pioneers who, like Mila, are redefining what it means to inform and illuminate our world.
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