dpa launches news central newsdesk in Berlin

Sep 15, 2010, 11:17 GMT

Berlin - The German Press Agency dpa launched a new central newsdesk in the German capital Berlin on Wednesday, bringing together more than two dozens editorial units and services previously based in Hamburg and elsewhere across Germany.

Among the production teams in the new 3,800-square-metre newsroom are dpa text, photo, graphics, video and audio services, as well as the newswire's international services, including the central newsdesk of the dpa International Service in English.

'The new central newsroom is an investment in the interest of our clients,' said dpa chief editor Wolfgang Buechner. The new integrated newsdesk facilitated a more efficient coordination and multi-media orientation of dpa's various news products.

dpa CEO Malte von Trotha said dpa had invested several million euro to centralize the various production teams.

Almost 300 editors, correspondents and other dpa staffers are based at the new location in the heart of Berlin's traditional media quarter in the city centre.

Although workflows had been adapted to fit the age of multimedia news production, Buechner insisted dpa's standards of quality remained constant: 'What has not changed is our focus on quality, the reliability and credibility of our news production.'