Set against the background of a global economic crisis that has hit media houses and broadcasters hard and has resulted in relentless cost-cutting by private sector media, the world’s poor are slipping further off the global agenda. So in 1995, IRIN (which stands for Integrated Regional Information Networks) was launched as a news agency with the aim to cover news and stories from under-reported, misunderstood or ignored parts of the world.
IRIN has since then produced more than 50 films tackling issues ranging from the changing face of HIV to violence against women, from the human cost of climate change to the curse of unexploded cluster bombs in southern Lebanon.
It has its headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya, plus regional desks in Nairobi, Johannesburg, Dakar, Dubai and Bangkok and covers about 70 countries. A network of local correspondents supports the up-to-date news coverage and gives first hand insight.
IRIN spreads its news via text, film, radio, photography and hard-copy publications. On CTV, IRIN's prize-winning documentaries are broadcasted on a regular basis for the viewers to gain information about particular issues in parts of the world that are not so extensively covered on other channels.