EANA chief: Trusted news agencies are key to combating misinformation

News agencies play an essential role in upholding democratic societies, said Alexandru Ion Giboi, Secretary General of the European Alliance of News Agencies (EANA), in an interview with ANA-MPAwebTV, Azernews reports.

“News agencies protect democracies through their activity. They don't need to do anything else than be ethical, follow the principles of journalism, and provide trustworthy and accurate news,” he noted. “Misinformation is that thing that disallows us from taking the best decisions for ourselves,” said Giboi, addressing the growing threat of false or misleading content in the digital space. “It makes it difficult for people to decide for themselves for the better.”

Giboi emphasized the need for media consumers to take a proactive role in verifying the information they consume. “What we need to do is look for trustworthy news. We need to verify. We need to have a critical eye. We have to be able to interpret what we read. That's very complicated, at least from the public side,” he noted.

At the heart of EANA’s mission is the creation of a sustainable environment for news agencies to operate across the continent. “Our goal is to allow news agencies in Europe to function in a healthy business environment,” Giboi explained. “By that, I mean allowing them access to knowledge, allowing them an interface with the European institutions, a voice at the European level, and, you know, sharing best practices.”

He also stressed that the work of professional news agencies is fundamental to preserving Europe’s core democratic values. “Free media, free journalism, freedom of speech are at the basis of the European values,” said Giboi. “And this is what news agencies, professional, trustworthy news agencies, are doing.”

EANA, which brings together leading news agencies across the continent, has been advocating for stronger collaboration among media institutions, as well as deeper engagement with European policymakers to ensure that journalism remains resilient and independent in the face of economic and political pressures.