European News Agencies discuss strategies to combat threats to journalism

The Albanian news agency ATA, under the auspices of the European News Agencies Alliance (EANA), organized a conference titled “Threats to Journalism & News Agencies & Tools to Fight Back” in Tirana.

The event brought together leading European news agencies, including 1news.media a member of the alliance.

Speakers emphasized how swift changes in the political, economic, and technological spheres seriously affect the work mechanisms developed over years in journalism, making media operations more difficult.

“In this modern era, journalism and news agencies face a more complex environment than ever before. Disinformation, economic pressures, declining trust, and the dominance of global platforms are all putting journalism to the test. No agency can tackle these challenges alone,” said Valbona Zhupa, Director General of the ATA agency.

Participants noted that key challenges include difficulties in obtaining and distributing news, copyright violations, and diminishing financial resources.

The widespread use of artificial intelligence has exacerbated copyright issues, and the necessity to prevent these threats was emphasized. Many AI companies actively use news agency content without protecting copyrights or providing financial compensation.

To address these concerns, the speakers highlighted the importance of diversifying strategies without abandoning core journalistic principles, further boosting journalists’ technological and other skills, giving maximum attention to the adoption of new technologies, and achieving the adoption of regulatory laws.

Representatives from the Associated Press, Norwegian NTB, German DPA, Greek ANA-MPA, Swiss Keystone-SDA, Turkish Anadolu Agency, and Ukrainian Ukrinform delivered presentations during the conference.