Operating with 950 permanent employees and independent contractors at 145 offices in Turkey and abroad, IHA (İhlas News Agency) produces an average of 250 images, 2,000 news reports supported with pictures, and 3,500 photographs per day.

Established in 1993, IHA is the first private news agency in Turkey and also the first agency to provide video news service. Operating with 950 permanent employees and independent contractors at 145 offices in Turkey and abroad, IHA produces an average of 250 images, 2,000 news reports supported with pictures, and 3,500 photographs per day. IHA increased the number of its domestic subscribers to 1,800. Subscribers include more than 250 television channels as well as numerous newspapers, websites, magazines and other organizations. The Agency also provides its services to over 200 television channels and corporations abroad.

News Production Across 5 Continents
As well as its video, images and news transmission capacity from all towns and cities in Turkey in addition to 35 countries around the world, İHA transmits news to subscribers via satellite uplink and the Internet. In addition to 145 national and global footage transmission stations, İHA has 32 uplink stations abroad so that it can instantaneously transmit video via satellite to the whole world, by rapidly arriving at the scene of events.

İHA started opening foreign offices in 1996, and has since earned its place among the world’s most prestigious news agencies, thanks to its news production on five continents and to its satellite operations. In parallel with the improvement in its technological infrastructure, İHA has enhanced its diversity of service. It started providing news in Arabic and English in 1998.

With changing global paradigms following the September 11 attacks, İHA has concentrated its activities in Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Russia, Greece, Kosovo, Israel, Palestine, Ukraine and the Central Asian Turkic Republics. Widening its operational field in recent years, İHA has established offices in Washington, London, Athens and Berlin, furnishing them with fully organized studios and uplink equipment.

Advanced Technical Infrastructure
The software developed by IHA’s own technical staff enables the Agency to store images in a digital archive. Over the last 16 years, more than 850 thousand images, 6 million printed news articles and 15 million photographs have been stored in this system, which was put into use in 1997, long before its counterparts. Currently, the Agency is in the process of developing a software program that will provide users with access to this digital archive over the Internet.

The news automation system, the software of which was developed by İHA, was put into use in 2012 to enable direct entry of news into the system from any location with internet access. This innovation exponentially expanded İHA’s current news reporter and copy editor network and enabled faster transmission of the news to the client.

New Investments Boosting Speed And Efficiency

Since 1997, IHA has been transmitting video news to its subscribers (television channels) initially via the VBI satellite, and later via the SDC system. In 2014, the Agency started to use a professional software program, which enables transmission via the Internet. IHA also provides HD (High-Definition) images to its local and international subscribers and customers.

In 2014, IHA spent about US$ 600,000 to upgrade its technical infrastructure to HD and purchased 10 HD encoders, 15 mid-size cameras with memory cards, 15 small-size cameras with memory cards, 15 HD 3G cameras, and 40 professional cameras.

The Agency plans to purchase 3 new generation flyaway uplink systems in 2015.

As of year-end 2014, İhlas Gazetecilik A.Ş. and İhlas Media Holding respectively held 24% and 75% stakes in İhlas News Agency.