About ERR News, staff and contacts
ERR News is public broadcaster ERR's English-language online news website, launched in August 2010.
ERR main Tallinn offices
Eesti Rahvusringhääling (ERR)
F.R. Kreutzwaldi 14
10124 Tallinn
Estonia
Follow ERR News on Facebook and Twitter.
ERR News editorial staff
Helen Wright, managing editor
Email, Twitter: @HelenWKWright
Michael Cole, editor
Email
Marcus Turovski, editor
Email
Aili Vahtla, editor
Email
Andrew Whyte, editor
Email
ERR general contacts
(See postal address above).
Email
Estonian website.
Phone +372 628 4100
A complete list of all ERR contacts is available here (link in Estonian).
Please note that ERR News can only relay information about Estonian Public Broadcasting's English-language service.
Contributions
Readers are welcome to submit opinion pieces or features on any topical subject relevant to Estonia. Email: [email protected]. Tip-offs, news and press releases can also be sent to the same email address.
Complaints
If you have a complaint, in the first instance, please contact one of the editorial team above. The ethics ombudsman (eetikanõunik) can resolve more complex questions regarding balance, fair use, fair representation and other media ethics issues, and ERR has a dedicated legal team. The ethics ombudsman's email is here.
The Estonian Press Council (Pressinõukogu), an independent body, processes dozens of complaints concerning the Estonian media, public and private, each year. Their website (in Estonian) is here.
About ERR News and Estonian Public Broadcasting
ERR News was started in 2010 as an independent English-language news service under the Estonian Public Broadcasting (ERR) umbrella. Since January 2016, ERR News has been an independent editorial team within ERR's cross-media (TV, radio, online) news department.
Part of what sets ERR apart from the private sector media is the law, independent supervisory structure and the best practice guidelines it must follow.
ERR News is subject to the same Best Practice (Estonian: Hea tava) that the rest of the organization must adhere to and which stems from the 2007 legal act which created ERR, as a merger of the formerly separate Estonian Radio (Eesti Raadio) and Estonian Television (Eesti Televisioon - ETV).
ETV celebrated its 65th anniversary in 2020 and public radio has been regularly broadcast in Estonia since 1926, during the time of the First Estonian Republic.
ERR is funded from the state budget, which is generally drawn up in September for approval by the end of the year, for the following year's budget.
ERR's management board chair is Erik Roose.
In addition to its own management board, ERR is supervised both by the Riigikogu's (multi-party) Cultural Affairs Committee and the Broadcasting Council (Ringhäälingu Nõukogu), made up of a panel of independent members (link in Estonian), as well as one for each political party represented at the Riigikogu (currently five).
This means that both bodies have a multi-party line-up, and that they are neither appointed nor instructed by the Estonian government. Their task is to supervise ERR in terms of the use of its finances and resources, as well as its mission to inform the Estonian people.
The English service has full-time news editors (see above), responsible for the production and publication of all information published on ERR News unless otherwise indicated (see above for information about submitting opinion or other pieces).