European News Agencies unite to counteract growing disinformation, propaganda
Baku, September 8, AZERTAC
The European Newsroom (enr), a joint platform for exchange of information established by over 20 EU news agencies, including the Bulgarian News Agency (BTA), was launched Tuesday in Brussels, according to BTA.
The event was attended by European Commission Vice-Presidents Vera Jourova and Margaritis Schinas, as well as the heads of the participating agencies, among whom BTA Director General Kiril Valchev and Deputy Director General Evgenia Drumeva.
The EU supports such projects, for facts should be presented clearly. It is time for Europe to speak in one voice, to know what true evil is, and that is happening in Ukraine today with the Russian aggression, Jourova said.
Next week the EC will present proposals for improving media freedom, she said, noting the deteriorating media environment in the EU. So much is expected from journalists and the media, but they are not protected enough. In some EU countries there is state interference against media freedom, she added. Remarking that the EC cannot take any procedure and the media are a matter within the scope of national authorities, Jourova said, adding that it could be seen they are under economic and political pressure and journalists are threatened.
The fact that anyone can read the news on enr without paying shows that the future is held by the news agencies open to all free of charge, said Kiril Valchev. BTA removed paid subscriptions as of 2022. The European Commission financed a consortium of 16 fully participating news agencies, among which BTA, to counteract fake news in the same way Bulgaria works to ensure sufficient budget for the real BTA news that can be used free of charge by all media. "This common project between global agencies, such as DPA and AFP and national news agencies from all over Europe, also demonstrates the growing importance of the national news wires, as well as of our cooperation that other partners would like to join," BTA's Director General noted.
The European Newsroom is beginning work at a time when the EU faces important decisions and good communication and mutual understanding are key, Evgenia Drumeva said in her address, expressing confidence that each agency participating in the project will contribute to that.
The enr project is funded by the European Commission with EUR 1.76 million and aims to uphold quality journalism by counteracting the growing dissemination of disinformation and propaganda with the help of tools such as fact checks and verification. Through the enr, the European agencies are given equal access to information, paving the way for comprehensive and diverse reporting across national borders.
Initially, enr is seen to operate until the end of 2023 and can be found online at europeannewsroom.com.
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