07.02.2005

From Argentina to Zimbabwe - news that comforts and afflicts

Ecumenical News International, an independent news agency which covers the world of churches and religion for media in every part of the globe, celebrated its 10th birthday in late 2004 with an open house and a historic roundtable on the future of ecumenical news gathering.

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	David Laurence and Peter Kenny

From Geneva, where it has its headquarters, ENI’s news service goes to mass media, church newspapers and research institutions in at least 50 countries as well as to church officials and members elsewhere.
“Those who use newspapers, television, radio and the Web are crying out for more reliable news about churches and religion from throughout the planet,” says Peter Kenny, editor in chief. “This news niche can only grow in the next 10 years.”
Thanks to a network of nearly 30 part-time correspondents around the globe, ENI - with a core staff of five in Geneva - publishes religious and church news from the whole world and has members of its governing bodies in all continents.
“Millions, literally millions, of people are more aware of the existence and the work of the world church because ENI exists,” says David Lawrence, a journalist from the United Reformed Church in Britain and president of ENI’s governing board.
“ENI, despite its small staff, is one of the most effective and relevant achievements of the ecumenical movement,” Lawrence said. “If it should disappear, a considerable investment made over the last 10 years to create a credible news agency with a wide reach might never happen again.”
ENI was launched in September 1994 as a cooperative venture by the World Council of Churches, the Lutheran World Federation, the World Alliance of Reformed Churches and the Conference of European Churches.
A birthday party was held in September 2004 in Geneva and in November 2004 the Church of Sweden hosted a 10th anniversary roundtable on the future of international ecumenical news which called for a broadening of the ENI initiative through partnerships and joint projects.
Speakers at the roundtable called for continued support of ecumenical efforts to sustain credible and prophetic reporting on religious affairs.
“A prophetic news service is one that tries to interpret the signs of the times, communicating as many aspects of the argument as it takes and coming down on the side of justice and equality,” said Musimbi Kanyoro, president of the World Association of Christian Communication.
“It must be prophetic, identifying growing issues of concern to empower millions of disenfranchised individuals by standing in solidarity with them and telling their stories.”
The news agency is governed by a charter agreed to by the four partners which sets down ENI’s aims of honesty, impartiality, accuracy and editorial independence. “Our job is to resist the pressure to transmit news about the churches that only makes them feel comfortable,” Kenny says.
“The truth often hurts the powerful but comforts the afflicted. Reliable and credible news released in a timely manner is the credo. It is a tough challenge but a vital one.”
In 1994 ENI produced 179 news articles over four months. In 2004 it was well on the way to producing more than 800 articles from countries ranging from Argentina to Zimbabwe and on topics ranging from aid to xenophobia.
ENI produces - in English and French - a daily service sent by electronic mail to media around the world. People who simply want a taste of the news published by ENI can subscribe free of charge to its electronic highlights service.
ENI’s articles are translated by media clients into many other languages, including Afrikaans, Chinese, Dutch, Japanese, Indonesian, Italian, German, Finnish and Spanish.
Lawrence said ENI is much more than a supplier of news. “ENI is a vital mission tool in the battle to keep alive ‘the rumour of God’ in what we loosely call secularized societies. In my own cultural context the level of disinterest in organized religion has reached quite staggering proportions.
“On top of that there is ENI’s role in the many cultures around the globe where faith is at the heart of national life and political debate. And ENI is not merely a resource for bringing news in, it is a vital means for making the voice of the marginalized and persecuted heard beyond their own country, and sometimes even within it.”
ENI, says Zimbabwean Bishop Sebastian Bakare, has been instrumental in providing information about events taking place in the worldwide ecumenical family. “It is this information of developments worldwide which has helped us in our daily prayers,” Bakare said.
“Going through the national crisis in Zimbabwe as we are at present, we feel encouraged and enjoy the spirit of solidarity through prayer,” Bakare said.

ENI