Conference paper
European Alliance of News Agencies (EANA)
Erik Nylen
Abstract
EANA is registered at the Trade Register in Berne, Switzerland as a non-profit membership association. EANA was founded 49 years ago and at the 2006 General Assembly in connection with a seminar we will celebrate our 50th anniversary in late September in Montreux, Switzerland. EANA has 30 European news agencies as its members. Together they represent 30 European countries with a total population of about 750 million people. This means that the EANA member agencies provide news and other information to newspapers, broadcasters etc with an impressive total circulation. HINA is a member since 1993. EANA serves as a professional forum for exchange of experiences and know-how by organising seminars via a newsletter etc. The EANA operations are financed via membership fees. In our Mission Statement we stress that news agencies working in accordance with the principles of press freedom and unbiased news are of major importance to the democratic society.
We are convinced that such news agencies are of vital importance for the development of a media landscape that citizens can rely on for information about economy, politics, sports or whatever. Therefore our statutes also say that the EANA member agencies shall support the principles of press freedom and unbiased news.
We stress that news agencies need a healthy environment abounding in freedom of the press, fair competition and simple and basic rules to operate. In a memo on how to develop EANA approved by a General Assembly it is stressed that it is in the interest of EANA to have agencies in transition as members and to assist these member agencies in their ambition to develop unbiased news services based on the principles of freedom of the press. Copyright for news services are of paramount importance to secure a business climate that ensures that news agencies can fulfill their role. The importance
of these rights is stressed by the technological transformation including that it creates a world without boarders. It is essential that legislation on all levels concerning intellectual property rights recognises the intellectual and financial efforts invested by news agencies gathering all kinds of news. Unauthorised use of news agency services undermines news agency operations.
Keywords
EANA; news agencies in transition; press freedom; Copyright; intellectual property
Hrčak ID:
22968
URI
Publication date:
20.6.2006.
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