As the Middle East again dominates the news agenda ENEX, has announced a series of further partnerships in the region. The expansion comes in three parts: a major agreement has been reached with a leading pan-Arab news agency to supply content, a new Jordanian television channel joins and, for the first time ever, ENEX will take on a wholly print and digital entity from Egypt into the group.

Arab 24, is headquartered in Amman, Jordan and is a leading independent Middle East and North Africa news-gathering agency covering key events and breaking news. Founded in 2015 the agency has rapidly expanded during a tumultuous period of news events in the region.  Adrian Wells, Managing Director of ENEX, said, ‘’Partnering with Arab 24 adds a new level to ENEX’s coverage of the MENA region. Arab 24 has on-the-ground expertise in some of the most difficult places to report in the world and we are delighted to bring their content to our members and work closely to grow our collaboration further.’’

Shadia Ajlouni, the Istanbul-based Regional Operations Manager for Arab 24 welcomed the move saying: ‘’The Arabic speaking region is characterized by unique political, social, cultural and linguistic nuances. Arab 24 has built keen competency in understanding this environment to bring to viewers across the globe a comprehensive picture of vital headline news stories and those that are otherwise overlooked, ignored or misrepresented. Our partnership with ENEX will enhance this even further.’’  The agency has fully equipped production teams in all the key regional capital cities and news hotspots and an office in Washington DC.

Al Ordon Al Yoom (Jordan Today)

ENEX’s global membership base now reaches 56 with the latest signing of Al Ordon Al Yoom (Jordan Today), one of Jordan’s leading commercial news channels. ENEX now has five Middle Eastern partners and talks on-going with a number of others.

The Middle East expansion follows similar regional growth in Latin America and Asia. ENEX has news editors based in Bogota, Colombia and Sydney Australia and has ambitions to locate a news editor in the Middle East to coordinate news activities.

Hamza Attar

The latest agreements were negotiated by ENEX’s MENA Operations Manager Hamza Attar who has previously worked in Egypt, Gaza and the United Arab Emirates.

ENEX has also reached outline agreement with the leading privately owned Egyptian newspaper and digital entity Al Masry Al Youm (The Egyptian Today). The newspaper is rapidly developing its digital edition and seeking to incorporate more video into its offer.

Enex has traditionally partnered with commercial broadcasters but this latest negotiation signals a move to broaden ENEX membership not just geographically but to other types of media entities.