The coronavirus pandemic has shown that news agencies have a key role in the international exchange of information, the European Alliance of News Agencies (EANA) has concluded at its first ever online conference.

EANA, which brings together 32 European news agencies, held its first ever online conference, titled “Coronavirus: Changes and Chances”, between September 17 and October 23, instead of an in-person meeting in Kiev.

“News agencies are more than ever the blood vessels of the international information flow. The COVID 19 crisis has emphasised that role – but at the same time it has produced unprecedented challenges. The permanent knowledge exchange between the 32 members of EANA is even more important now,” said Peter Kropsch, President of EANA and CEO of the German news agency dpa.

Alexandru Giboi, EANA Secretary General, said that news agencies “have proven again that they have the ability to assume the role of the backbone for all of the media ecosystem.”

“During these tough times, our members stepped up and evolved in a way which was best for their clients, their partners and societies as a whole, by providing trustworthy, accurate and verified information to all,” Giboi said.

“Turning the one-day meeting in person into a series of online panel discussions proved to be beneficial for the engagement between EANA and its members, and also for strengthening ties inside the EANA community.

“Focusing on the effects of the pandemic on the news agencies, the panels tackled topics ranging from crisis-driven product diversification to the (re)consideration of news agencies’ roles in society during the past few months,” EANA said in a press release.