Industry News agency Founded 1990 | Headquarters Tallinn | |
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Website www.bns.ee (Estonia)
www.bns.lv (Latvia)
www.bns.lt (Lithuania) | ||
The Baltic News Service (BNS) is the largest news agency operating in the Baltic states. Founded in April, 1990, by a group of students (the founding CEO was Allan Martinson), it sought to inform foreign correspondents in Moscow of developments in the Baltic states' struggles for independence from the Soviet Union. Within a few months, it had been recognized by numerous Western media sources.
Today, BNS is a holding company for separate organizations in Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania.
BNS disseminates news in five languages via the internet and by other means. Subscribers include media, financial, industrial, and government institutions in the Baltic states. BNS also collaborates with Agence France-Presse, Reuters, and Interfax.
In 2003, the BNS publishing company in Estonia, BNS Kirjastus, bought the bankrupt news agency ETA (Eesti Teadeteagentuur).
BNS was wholly owned by the Finnish media group Alma Media from 2001 until March 2014 when it was sold to Uudisvoog OÜ, a company fully owned by the Estonian Ilmar Kompus who is also the proprietor of the Sky Plus radio station.