EANA on World News Day 2026: Trustworthy journalism is critical to the future of democracy

As the global news industry marks World News Day, the European Alliance of News Agencies (EANA) joins hundreds of organisations worldwide in celebrating the value that fact-based journalism brings to democratic societies.

In an era of information overload, AI-generated content and declining trust, news agency journalists deliver accurate, source-checked reporting so that news agencies continue to be society's first line of news gathering and verification, thus forming the foundation the media environment worldwide.

World News Day is about all those who practice journalism with integrity, whatever the medium: news publishers, broadcasters - both public and private - that bring verified news into every home; and a new wave of journalists who engage directly with their audiences online, through their own channels, on social media and video platforms.

On this occasion, EANA celebrates this diversity of voices. Trusted journalism is defined by the discipline behind it: sourcing, checking, attributing - all of which lead to trustworthy content reaching the public and, therefore, enforcing democracies worldwide.

EANA Secretary General Alexandru Giboi said: "World News Day reminds us of a simple truth: democracy runs on facts, and whether those facts are reaching the public depends on professional journalism. Europe's news agencies have quietly performed this service for decades, verifying, contextualising and distributing trustworthy news under intense time pressure and increasingly difficult economic conditions.

Today we invite everyone who consumes news to look behind the headlines and recognise the invisible infrastructure that makes them possible. Real trust cannot be generated - it is earned, daily, through rigour, independence and accountability.

Professional journalism continues to be, now more than ever, part of the essential civic infrastructure of democracies."

About EANA: The European Alliance of News Agencies (EANA) was founded on 21 August 1956 in Strasbourg. Today it brings together 33 member agencies across Europe, serving as a forum for cooperation, knowledge exchange, and the advancement of news agency journalism. EANA is headquartered in Bern, Switzerland. For more information about EANA, visitwww.newsalliance.org.  

Media Contact for EANA: Alexandru Giboi - secretarygeneral@newsalliance.org