Cyprus News Agency seeks state funding for IT upgrade

The Cyprus News Agency (CNA) will invest in a technological upgrade to address problems with antiquated infrastructure, its president Iosif Iosif said on Monday as he presented the agency’s 2022 budget to the House finance committee.

The budget is for €2.9 million of which €2.1m is a state grant and the remaining €840,000 from subscriptions and advertising revenue. CNA does not keep this amount but receives less from the state, Iosif said. Letters have been sent to the interior and finance ministry asking that agency be able to use this sum to invest in its services.

The twin priorities for 2022 are upgrading technology and boosting human resources, with six vacancies due to be filled by the end of the year. Iosif also pressed for more state financing for IT, noting that the agency website has on occasion crashed because of antiquated infrastructure.

CNA will also soon be launching a service in Russian, he added.

Responding to comments from MPs, particularly from opposition Akel, Iosif and acting director Yiorgos Christodoulides said the agency was objective and fair in its reporting. Both denied that the agency’s reporting was manipulated in anyway.