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| Type | News, online |
|---|---|
| Founded | London, United Kingdom (1989) |
| Website | www.wenn.com |
World Entertainment News Network (WENN) is a global network, headquartered in London with offices in Los Angeles, New York, Las Vegas, Berlin and other key entertainment capitals around the world. It provides round-the-clock breaking entertainment news, fun facts, photos and features to newspapers, magazines, radio stations, television networks, websites and all kinds of new media worldwide.
Contents |
History
WENN was launched as an entertainment news wire service in London in 1989 by journalist Jonathan Ashby. WENN started life as the World Rock News Network (WRNN) and the company soon established a niche for itself, providing music news to a prestigious list of subscribers including MTV, BBC, ABC[disambiguation needed] and - a first for any Western news service - Russia's leading national daily youth newspaper, Komsomolskaya Pravda. In 1991 it became apparent there was a developing appetite from the world's media for celebrity news and photos and WRNN reacted by embracing this developing cult of celebrity.
The company name was changed to WENN - the World Entertainment News Network - to more accurately reflect its enhanced editorial brief.
1993 saw another significant development with the opening of the WENN picture desk, which was set up to cover the worlds of movies, music, and showbusiness.
In 1994, a Los Angeles bureau was opened in the heart of bustling Melrose Avenue to cover the fast-paced Hollywood celebrity scene.
A year later, WENN opened a TV operation and spent 18 months interviewing the cream of international celebrity for global clients throughout Europe and in Japan and South Africa.
Meanwhile, Ashby and editor Kevin Lewin became minor radio celebrities broadcasting regularly in America and Japan.
Success prompted WENN to open satellite offices throughout the world, including Eastern Europe, Japan, Australia and South America. The company also added a number of impressive clients - subscribers who are household names, such as Sony, Blockbuster and ITV.
Again, reacting to industry demands, in the late 1990's WENN invested further in its picture division and now boasts a global network of skilled photographers.
In 2000, WENN's long-serving sales director Lloyd Beiny became the ever-expanding company's CEO and, under his leadership, the firm opened major hubs in New York and Berlin.
With the expansion came more impressive clients - WENN's news and photos can now be seen via a significant number of new media and telecoms companies such as O2, Virgin Mobile, imdb.com and Bloomberg. And there are major developments afoot to add to the company's impressive roster of friends and subscribers.
Former employees
WENN has been a launch-pad for a host of household names - Amy Winehouse prepared for fame and celebrity by reporting on other stars as a turn-of-the-new-century reporter, as did DJ Yoda. Other noteworthy former employees include Channel Four and BBC1 presenter Matthew Wright, Channel Four Entertainment News correspondent Stephanie West Sunday Mirror Showbiz Editor Sean Hamilton, Daily Star Sunday Columnist Joe Mott, Daily Star showbiz columnist Charli Morgan, Sunday Mirror showbiz columnist Zoe Griffin and DJ /music writer (BBC America, The Slits' biography 'Typical Girls?') Zoë Street Howe. Veteran New York radio news editor Shelli Sonstein, ABC Radio News correspondent Dave Alpert Veteran Canadian music journalist Larry LeBlanc also worked for WENN in the early '90s.
Photographers
WENN relies on a team of dedicated professional photographers in obtaining entertainment and news photo world wide. Their photographers are known for fast and accurate transmission of photos for their clients.
US based photographers
•Aaron D. Settipane, Los Angeles
•Anthony Dixon, New York
•Carrie Devorah, Washington DC
•Patricia Schlein, New York
Canadian based photographers
•Dominic Chan, Toronto
UK based photographers
•Carsten Windhorst, London
•Daniel Deme, London
•Sakura Henderson, North West
External links
- [1] WENN Homepage
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