German news agency
The German news agency (DENA) was the name of a press agency of the Information Control Division founded by the American occupation forces in the fall of 1945 in their zone of occupation .
It was initially called - just like the agency founded in the British occupation zone - "German News Service", but was renamed DANA (German General News Agency) to distinguish it from it . The former soldier broadcaster "Paula" was used to spread the DANA news . It was a so-called railway transmitter because it was mounted on rails. It was only when it burned down at the end of 1946 that a teletype network was set up.
In February 1946 the agency was given German management. The managing director was Walter Fritze , who later became the press spokesman for the German Federation of Trade Unions . Johannes Haas-Heye became editor-in-chief . When he soon went to the American news agency United Press , his successor was Felix von Eckardt , who later became the federal press spokesman .
On October 26, 1946, the American Brigadier General Robert A. McClure licensed DANA's successor, DENA (German News Agency), which, like the dpd, worked as a cooperative in the British zone in Bad Nauheim . At that time, DENA had 426 German employees and only 15 Americans.
DENA was one of the forerunner agencies of the German Press Agency (dpa) and was incorporated into it on August 18, 1949, together with the German Press Service (dpd) and the South German News Agency (Süda).
After that, DENA was transformed by the dpa into a technical service provider for news agencies and media. It operated transmitters ( card ) for the distribution of agency services and provided services for the reception of agency services in the media. On May 12, 1989, the Deutsche Presse-Agentur GmbH (dpa) and five other news agencies announced the founding of mecom Medien Communications GmbH. Deutsche Nachrichten GmbH (DENA) was also involved initially. The occasion was the Postal Structure Act passed by the Federal Council on the same day. This made it possible for private operators to use satellites for data transmission for the first time.
The success of satellite communication for the transmission of messages robbed DENA of an important mainstay and led to its dissolution in 1998.
literature
- Johannes Schmitz: DANA / DENA - news agency in the American occupied zone of Germany 1945-1949. Dissertation. Munich. 1988.
Individual evidence
- ^ Press release "News agencies found society for satellite transmission", published by the dpa on Fri, May 12, 1989, 3:23 pm; Message identifier bas337 4 wi 174 vvvvb dpa 520