EANA turns 70, highlighting decades of backing national news agencies across Europe
The European Alliance of News Agencies (EANA) celebrates on Friday its 70th anniversary, a time during which it has supported national news agencies across Europe, the media alliance said in a statement.
Seventy years ago today, on 21 August 1956, European news agencies came together in Strasbourg to establish the European Alliance of News Agencies (EANA). What began as a forum for cooperation among a handful of European agencies has grown into a network of 33 member organisations representing 33 countries and over 670 million people, from Helsinki to Nicosia, from Lisbon to Baku.
Seven decades later, the principles that inspired EANA's founding remain at the heart of its mission: to safeguard the common interests of member agencies, to ensure they can operate as providers of unbiased news, and to uphold press freedom as a cornerstone of democratic societies.
The Alliance exists not as an institution unto itself, but as a collective platform where European news agencies share knowledge, coordinate responses to common threats, and advocate jointly for the conditions that allow independent news agency journalism to flourish.
Each member agency brings unique national expertise while contributing to a shared European standard of factual reporting.
'Our members are what makes our organisation strong,' said Alexandru Ion Giboi, EANA Secretary General. 'Every individual member agency strengthens the whole. In an era when independent journalism faces mounting pressure from multiple directions, our unity is more important than ever, and our diversity is what makes us stronger.'
'As we mark 70 years, we recognise that the challenges have evolved, but the overall purpose of our organisation has not changed,' Alexandru Giboi also said. 'Our member news agencies continue to provide the verified information that citizens need to make informed decisions. That responsibility has only grown more consequential with time.'
The news agency landscape in 2026 bears little resemblance to the world of 1956, yet our core mission remains the same, the EANA statement reads. What has shifted dramatically, though, is the environment in which member agencies operate.
AI-generated content, automated amplification networks, and coordinated manipulation campaigns have made false information cheaper and faster to produce than ever before. News agencies are now facing industrial-scale disinformation operations designed to undermine public trust in verified reporting. Our most valuable tool in this fight for truth is our journalism.
'Seventy years ago, in Strasbourg, European news agencies started EANA with a clear idea in mind: that verified information serves the public interest, regardless of national borders. Today, as we celebrate seven decades of cooperation, that idea remains more relevant than ever,' said Stefano De Alessandri, President of EANA and CEO of ANSA.
'EANA means 70 years of solidarity, cooperation, and a common voice for news agencies across Europe. For AGERPRES, being part of EANA has meant, over these years, institutional development, access to European know-how and best practices, but also real solidarity in difficult moments - whether concerning the economic challenges facing the sector or the need to adapt quickly to technological change. This network of mutual support among national agencies is the most valuable legacy of these 70 years,' declared Claudia Nicolae, member of the EANA Board and Director General of AGERPRES.
According to Aimilios Perdikaris, member of the EANA Board and media and communications executive at ANA-MPA, 'EANA brings news agencies and their people together and represents their interests, strengthening their voice while promoting news exchange, innovation and high journalistic standards at a time of major technological change and new challenges, like the daily fight against disinformation. Our Alliance and our members should play an even stronger role in safeguarding reliable information and shaping the future of news agencies, which are a cornerstone of our democratic societies.' AGERPRES (RO - editing by: Codrut Balu; EN - writing by: Simona Klodnischi)
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