Addis Ababa: The memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed to cooperate on enhancing media coverage between the Ethiopian News Agency and TV BRICS on Tuesday will help in tackling the distorted portrayal of Africa, Russian Ambassador to Ethiopia Evgeny Terekhin said. Following the signing of the milestone agreement, Ambassador Terekhin said that as mass media plays an important role in today's world the MoU is crucial for all the BRICS plus member states and beyond. Some media outlets tend to distort the reality for fulfilling their own interest, he stated, and noted such cooperation amongst BRICS plus member countries will help in bringing the reality to light. 'Therefore, enhancing cooperation between the media outlets helps to reach the main idea and goal of BRICS Plus association that means building a new world on the principles of justice, mutual cooperation, respect and help,' Ambassador Terekhin noted. The signed MoU lays a solid foundation for the cooperation in various areas, he pointed out, and emphasized that it also demonstrates Ethiopia's accession to the BRICS Plus undoubtedly was for practical deeds. The inappropriate portrayal of Africa is done purposely to diminish its investment, he stated, and hastened to say 'so we need to make a breakthrough against such narratives.' According to him, the MoU signed by Ethiopian News Agency CEO Seife Deribe and TV BRICS counterpart Janna Tolstikova is instrumental towards changing those narratives. 'Once again, I express my happiness of making this formalize cooperation with BRICS TV. And I am sure that it will be mutual beneficial for both BRICS TV and its audiences and as well as ENA and the people of Ethiopia who will get a better chance to get undistorted, truthful of the life in other BRICS Plus countries,' the Ambassador elaborated. During the signing ceremony, Ethiopian News Agency CEO Seife Derbie stated the MoU will serve as a model to strengthen cooperation among the BRICS countries. 'My organization, the Ethiopian News Agency (ENA), as a primary news source of the country has been seeking strong cooperation with Russian media organizations and other BRICS countries media outlets. So this is extremely important to exchange regional continental news contents with other media outlets among our BRICS countries.' the CEO underscored. Recall that the Ethiopian News Agency had inked MoUs with the BRICS member countries media houses including the Russian News Agency Sputnik and the Chinese news agency Xinhua. The agency is also a member of BRICS+ Media Presidium. With over 38 branch offices across the country and 80 plus years rich experience, ENA has been striving to become a leading and reliable news source in the African continent.
Source: Ethiopian News Agency