ENEX is an association of the world’s leading commercial TV broadcasters with a collaborative approach: members share content and resources to provide each other with trusted and verified news. This is particularly useful during breaking news situations, such as the ongoing war in Ukraine. On Thursday 9 June and Friday 10 June, ENEX members travelled to RTL Deutschland’s main location in Cologne, Germany, to meet each other face-to-face and exchange on key topics.
“The core of ENEX is networking and collaboration”
The Editorial Committee Meeting was opened by Sonja Schwetje, Editor-in-Chief at NTV and RTL News and Chair of the Board of Enex. Sonja welcomed the attendees to RTL Deutschland and praised all members for remaining close to their audiences during the Covid-19 pandemic. She also mentioned the ongoing war in Ukraine, in which Enex and its members are doing their best to fight disinformation, uphold independent journalism and maintain media coverage in Ukraine.
“Video material is the lifeblood of Enex”
The meeting continued with a welcome and editorial update from Mark Evans, Head of News at ENEX. Mark covered the latest trends and developments since the last editorial meeting in Belgrade, which took place over two years ago.
Thanks to Donald Trump, 2019 was a highlight year for ENEX in terms of editorial content, with the upward trend of “hits over time” (when a partner uses content) continuing into 2021. Clear peaks could be seen for the Covid-19 pandemic, with a total of 2,300 stories published in April 2020, followed by further peaks for the US election and Russian invasion. The most popular videos between March 2020 and May 2022 were from hospitals in Bergamo at the beginning of the pandemic, provided by Sky UK, followed by footage of a baby being rescued in Beirut, also provided by Sky UK, and a massive explosion in Beirut, sourced by ENEX.
ENEX provides its members with two types of content: content from other partners, and content which is sourced directly by ENEX news editors. Using the Russian invasion as an example, Mark showed a moving video with footage from Ukraine – showing stories which would have otherwise remained untold. After sourcing and seeking permission to share the video, ENEX verifies the information to check it is true and accurate. The content is then published for all Enex members to use on their news channels.
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