The sixth EBU News Assembly opened today (November 1) in Cascais, Portugal, bringing together leading journalists and agenda setters from the world of public service news broadcasting.

The highlight on day one of the meeting, hosted by Portuguese Member RTP, was the presentation of the annual Gunnar Høidahl Award for Excellence in the Eurovision News Exchange. The award goes to an EBU Member who is judged by the newsroom in Geneva to have shared outstanding coverage of a major news story in the community spirit that is the essence of the Eurovision News Exchange.

The winner this year was Norwegian Member NRK, for their July 22 coverage of the car bombing in Oslo and deadly shooting spree later the same day, on the island of Utøya.

Head of the News Exchange Sam Dubberley said his staff had been universally impressed by NRK's response to the fast breaking story, and by how quickly the pictures reached Geneva.

"NRK's reflex to share their coverage exclusively with the EBU membership meant the rest of the world was able to broadcast excellent material just 10 minutes after it had hit Norwegian screens," he said. "This response exemplifies the core values of the Eurovision News Exchange, and while there were some other strong contenders this year, NRK were deserving winners."

Last year the prize went to Icelandic Member RUV, for providing continuous top-quality pictures of the erupting Eyjafjallajokul volcano, which disrupted air travel across western and northern Europe for more than  a week, in April, 2010.

The Assembly was opened by News Committee Chairman, Hans Laroes (NOS) and RTP News Deputy Director Victor Gonsalves, both of whom stressed the importance of the Eurovision News Exchange for public broadcasters.

EBU Director General Ingrid Deltenre outlined ongoing organizational changes in the EBU but noted that  content, not structure provided the true value of the News Exchange. "Most important are your assets and programmes," she said.

Ms Deltenre then introduced the recently appointed EBU Media Director, Annika Nyberg Frankenhaeuser, who takes up her post in February 2012. The new EBU Media Department consolidates the activities of the Radio and Television Departments, and News services.

Ms Nyberg Frankenhaeuser said the new department's development was still being considered, but she said it should be formed in cooperation with both Members and EBU staff in Geneva, using cross-media to achieve greater efficiencies.

This is also an election year, and the EBU News Assembly will vote for a News Committee chairman to replace Hans Laroes, who is stepping down after four years in the post. Three vice-chairs and nine other members of the News Committee will also be elected.