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{{Short description|News gathering organization}}
{{redirect|Wire service|the television series|Wire Service{{!}}''Wire Service''}}
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{{Distinguish|Newsagent's shop}}
{{Journalism sidebar}}

A '''news agency'''{{efn|A news agency may also be referred to as a '''wire service''', '''newswire''', or '''news service'''.}} is an organization that gathers [[news]] reports and sells them to subscribing news organizations, such as [[newspaper]]s, [[magazine]]s and [[All-news radio|radio]] and [[News broadcasting|television]] [[Broadcasting|broadcasters]]. Although there are many news agencies around the world, three global news agencies, the [[Associated Press]] (AP), [[Reuters]], and [[Agence France-Presse]] (AFP) have offices in most countries of the world, cover all areas of media, and provide the majority of international news printed by the world's newspapers.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Rafeeq |first1=Ali |last2=Jiang |first2=Shujun |date=2018-01-02 |title=From the Big Three to elite news sources: a shift in international news flow in three online newspapers TheNational.ae, Nst.com.my, and Nzherald.co.nz |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13216597.2018.1444663 |journal=The Journal of International Communication |volume=24 |issue=1 |pages=96–114 |doi=10.1080/13216597.2018.1444663 |s2cid=169613987 |issn=1321-6597 |access-date=2022-04-26 |archive-date=2022-04-26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220426220709/https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13216597.2018.1444663 |url-status=live |url-access=subscription }}</ref> All three began with and continue to operate on a basic philosophy of providing a single objective news feed to all subscribers. [[Jonathan Fenby]] explains the philosophy:

<blockquote>To achieve such wide acceptability, the agencies avoid overt partiality. Demonstrably correct information is their stock in trade. Traditionally, they report at a reduced level of responsibility, attributing their information to a spokesman, the press, or other sources. They avoid making judgments and steer clear of doubt and ambiguity. Though their founders did not use the word, objectivity is the philosophical basis for their enterprises – or failing that, widely acceptable neutrality.<ref name=":1">Jonathan Fenby, ''The International News Services'' (1986), p. 25.</ref></blockquote>

[[Newspaper syndicate]]s generally sell their material to one client in each territory only, while news agencies distribute news articles to all interested parties.

News agencies can show [[media bias]].<ref name="l338">{{cite journal | last=Adegbola | first=Oluseyi | last2=Gearhart | first2=Sherice | last3=Cho | first3=Janice | title=Reporting Bias in Coverage of Iran Protests by Global News Agencies | journal=The International Journal of Press/Politics | volume=27 | issue=1 | date=2022 | issn=1940-1612 | doi=10.1177/1940161220966948 | doi-access=free | pages=138–157 | url=https://ttu-ir.tdl.org/bitstreams/d14d1fe4-f87f-4643-af87-83f006effd7d/download | access-date=25 May 2025| hdl=2346/89095 | hdl-access=free }}</ref>

==History==
Only a few large newspapers could afford bureaus outside their home city; they relied instead on news agencies, especially [[Havas]] (founded 1835) in France—now known as [[Agence France-Presse]] (AFP)—and the [[Associated Press]] (founded 1846) in the United States. Former Havas employees founded [[Reuters Group|Reuters]] in 1851 in Britain and [[Wolffs Telegraphisches Bureau|Wolff]] in 1849 in Germany.<ref>Jonathan Fenby, ''The International News Services'' (1986).</ref> In 1865, Reuter and Wolff signed agreements with Havas's sons, forming a cartel designating exclusive reporting zones for each of their agencies within Europe.<ref>[http://www.environmentalhistory.org/revcomm/timelines/ch7-telegraph/ "Ch 7 Telegraph"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130801114401/http://www.environmentalhistory.org/revcomm/timelines/ch7-telegraph/|date=2013-08-01}}, ''Revolutions in Communication: Media history from Gutenberg to the digital age'' (2010). Retrieved February 12, 2013.</ref> For international news, the agencies pooled their resources, so that Havas, for example, covered the French Empire, South America and the Balkans and shared the news with the other national agencies. In France the typical contract with Havas provided a provincial newspaper with 1800 lines of telegraphed text daily, for an annual subscription rate of 10,000 francs. Other agencies provided features and fiction for their subscribers.<ref>Theodore Zeldin, ''France: 1848–1945'' (1977) 2: 538–539</ref>

In the 1830s, France had several specialized agencies. Agence Havas was founded in 1835 by a Parisian translator and advertising agent, [[Charles-Louis Havas]], to supply news about France to foreign customers. In the 1840s, Havas gradually incorporated other French agencies into his agency. Agence Havas evolved into [[Agence France-Presse]] (AFP).<ref>{{cite book |last=Broderick |first=James F. |author2=Darren W. Miller |title=Consider the source: A Critical Guide to 100 Prominent News and Information Sites on the Web |year=2007 |publisher=Information Today, Inc. |isbn=978-0-910965-77-4 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/considersourcecr0000brod/page/1 1] |url=https://archive.org/details/considersourcecr0000brod/page/1 }}</ref> Two of his employees, [[Bernhard Wolff]] and [[Paul Reuter|Paul Julius Reuter]], later set up rival news agencies, [[Wolffs Telegraphisches Bureau]] in 1849 in Berlin and Reuters in 1851 in London. [[Guglielmo Stefani]] founded the [[Agenzia Stefani]], which became the most important press agency in [[Kingdom of Italy|Italy from the mid-19th century to World War II]], in [[Turin]] in 1853.

The development of the telegraph in the 1850s led to the creation of strong national agencies in England, Germany, Austria and the United States. But despite the efforts of governments, through telegraph laws such as in 1878 in France, inspired by the British [[Telegraph Act]] of 1869 which paved the way for the nationalisation of telegraph companies and their operations, the cost of telegraphy remained high.

In the United States, the judgment in ''Inter Ocean Publishing v. Associated Press'' facilitated competition by requiring agencies to accept all newspapers wishing to join. As a result of the increasing newspapers, the Associated Press was now challenged by the creation of [[United Press Associations]] in 1907 and [[International News Service]] by newspaper publisher [[William Randolph Hearst]] in 1909.

Driven by the huge U.S. domestic market, boosted by the runaway success of radio, all three major agencies required the dismantling of the "cartel agencies" through the Agreement of 26 August 1927. They were concerned about the success of U.S. agencies from other European countries which sought to create national agencies after the First World War. Reuters had been weakened by war censorship, which promoted the creation of newspaper cooperatives in the Commonwealth and national agencies in Asia, two of its strong areas.

After the Second World War, the movement for the creation of national agencies accelerated, when accessing the independence of former colonies, the national agencies were operated by the state. Reuters, became cooperative, managed a breakthrough in finance, and helped to reduce the number of U.S. agencies from three to one, along with the internationalization of the Spanish [[EFE]] and the globalization of Agence France-Presse.

In 1924, [[Benito Mussolini]] placed Agenzia Stefani under the direction of [[Manlio Morgagni]], who expanded the agency's reach significantly both within Italy and abroad. Agenzia Stefani was dissolved in 1945, and its technical structure and organization were transferred to the new [[Agenzia Nazionale Stampa Associata]] (ANSA). Wolffs was taken over by the Nazi regime in 1934.<ref>[https://www.reuters.com/article/us-reuters-baroness-idUSTRE50O1GV20090125 "Baroness Reuter, last link to news dynasty, dies"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924140639/http://www.reuters.com/article/2009/01/25/us-reuters-baroness-idUSTRE50O1GV20090125 |date=2015-09-24 }}, Reuters, January 25, 2009. Retrieved February 12, 2013.</ref> The [[German Press Agency]] (dpa) in Germany was founded as a co-operative in [[Goslar]] on 18 August 1949 and became a [[limited liability company]] in 1951. Fritz Sänger was the first [[editor-in-chief]]. He served as [[managing director]] until 1955 and as [[managing editor]] until 1959. The first transmission occurred at 6 a.m. on 1 September 1949.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Facts and figures |url=https://www.dpa.com/en/company/facts-and-figures |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201203194727/https://www.dpa.com/en/company/facts-and-figures/ |archive-date=2020-12-03 |access-date=2020-12-18 |website=www.dpa.com}}</ref> 

Since the 1960s, the major agencies were provided with new opportunities in television and magazine, and news agencies delivered specialized production of images and photos, the demand for which is constantly increasing. In France, for example, they account for over two-thirds of national market.<ref name="SgDdai">{{Cite web |url=https://www.culture.gouv.fr/content/download/17387/file/Cchiffres08_4.pdf |title=« Statistiques d’entreprises des industries culturelles », par Valérie Deroin, Secrétariat général Délégation au développement et aux affaires internationales au sein du Département des études, de la prospective et des statistiques |access-date=2022-04-27 |archive-date=2022-04-27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220427021102/https://www.culture.gouv.fr/content/download/17387/file/Cchiffres08_4.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>

By the 1980s, the four main news agencies, AFP, AP, UPI and Reuters, provided over 90% of foreign news printed by newspapers around the world.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|date=1981-06-01|title=The Big Four|url=https://newint.org/features/1981/06/01/four|access-date=2020-10-29|website=New Internationalist|language=en|archive-date=2020-12-13|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201213171326/https://newint.org/features/1981/06/01/four|url-status=live}}</ref>

==Commercial services==
News agencies can be [[corporations]] that sell news (e.g., [[PA Media]], [[Thomson Reuters]], [[German Press Agency|dpa]] and [[United Press International]]). Commercial newswire services charge businesses to distribute their news (e.g., [[Business Wire]],  [[GlobeNewswire]], [[PR Newswire]], [[PR Web]], and [[Cision]]).

The major news agencies generally prepare hard news stories and feature articles that can be used by other news organizations with little or no modification, and then sell them to other news organizations. They provide these articles in bulk electronically through wire services (originally they used [[telegraphy]]; today they frequently use the [[Internet]]). Corporations, individuals, analysts, and [[intelligence agencies]] may also subscribe.
 
Other agencies work cooperatively with large media companies, generating their news centrally and sharing local news stories the major news agencies may choose to pick up and redistribute (e.g., [[Associated Press]] (AP), [[Agence France-Presse]] (AFP) or the Indian news agency [[Press Trust of India|PTI]]).

==Government funded==
{{See also|State media}}
Governments may also control news agencies: China ([[Xinhua]]), Russia ([[TASS]]), and several other countries have government-funded news agencies which also use information from other agencies as well.<ref>Boyd-Barrett, Oliver, ed. (2010). ''[http://llibreria.gencat.cat/product_info.php?products_id=4585 News Agencies in the Turbulent Era of the Internet] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100922074327/http://llibreria.gencat.cat/product_info.php?products_id=4585 |date=2010-09-22 }}''. Generalitat de Catalunya. {{ISBN|978-84-393-8303-1}}</ref>

==Alternative news agencies==
News sources, collectively, described as [[alternative media]] provide reporting which emphasizes a self-defined "non-corporate view" as a contrast to the points of view expressed in corporate media and government-generated news releases. [[Internet]]-based [[alternative news agency|alternative news agencies]] form one component of these sources.

==Associations==
There are several different associations of news agencies. [[European Alliance of News Agencies|EANA]] is the European Alliance of Press Agencies, while the [[Organization of Asia-Pacific News Agencies|OANA]] is an association of news agencies of the Asia-Pacific region. [[MINDS International|MINDS]] is a global network of leading news agencies collaborating in new media business.

==List of major news agencies==
{{main list|List of news agencies}}
{| class="wikitable sortable"
!Name!!Abbrev.!!Country
|-
|[[Adnkronos]] || || {{ITA}}
|-
|[[Agence France-Presse]] || AFP || {{FRA}}
|-
|[[Agência Brasil]] || ABR || {{BRA}}
|-
|[[EFE|Agencia EFE]] ||EFE || {{ESP}}
|-
|[[Rador|Agenția de Presă RADOR]] (National Radio) || Rador || {{ROU}}
|-
|[[Agerpres|Agenția Română de Presă]] || AGERPRES || {{ROU}}
|-
|[[Agenzia Giornalistica Italia]] || AGI || {{ITA}}
|-
|[[Agenzia Nazionale Stampa Associata]] || ANSA || {{ITA}}
|-
|[[AKIpress news agency|AKIpress News Agency]] || || {{KGZ}}
|-
|[[Algemeen Nederlands Persbureau]] || ANP || {{NLD}}
|-
|[[Algeria Press Service]] || APS || {{DZA}}
|-
|[[Anadolu Agency]] || AA || {{TUR}}
|-
|[[Andina (news agency)|Andina]] || || {{PER}}
|-
|[[Antara (news agency)|Antara]] || || {{IDN}}
|-
|[[Armenpress]] || || {{ARM}}
|-
|[[Asian News International]] || ANI || {{IND}}
|-
|[[Associated Press]] || AP || {{USA}}
|-
|[[Associated Press of Pakistan]] || APP || {{PAK}}
|-
|[[Athens-Macedonian News Agency]] || AMNA || {{GRE}}
|-
|[[Australian Associated Press]] || AAP || {{AUS}}
|-
|[[Austria Presse Agentur]] || APA || {{AUT}}
|-
|[[Azerbaijan State Telegraph Agency]] || AzerTAc || {{AZE}}
|-
|[[Bahrain News Agency]] || BNA || {{BHR}}
|-
|[[Bakhtar News Agency]] || || {{AFG}}
|-
|[[Baltic News Service]] || BNS || {{EST}}
|-
|[[Bangladesh Sangbad Shangstha]] || BSS || {{BGD}}
|-
|[[Belga (news agency)|Belga]] || BELGA || {{BEL}}
|-
|[[Beta News Agency]] || || {{SRB}}
|-
|[[Bloomberg News]] || || {{USA}}
|-
|[[BNO News]]|| || {{NLD}}
|-
|[[Bulgarian News Agency|Bulgarian Telegraph Agency]] || BTA || {{BGR}}
|-
|{{sort|Canadian Press|[[The Canadian Press]]}} || CP || {{CAN}}
|-
|[[Caribbean Media Corporation]] || CMC || {{BAR}}
|-
|[[CCTV+]] || || {{CHN}}
|-
|[[Central News Agency (Republic of China)|Central News Agency]] || CNA || {{TWN}}
|-
|[[China News Service]] || CNS || {{CHN}}
|-
|[[Croatian News Agency]] || HINA || {{HRV}}
|-
|[[Czech News Agency]] || ČTK || {{CZE}}
|-
|[[Demirören News Agency]] || DHA || {{TUR}}
|-
|[[Deutsche Presse-Agentur]] || DPA || {{DEU}}
|-
|[[Dow Jones Newswires]] || || {{USA}}
|-
|[[Emirates News Agency]] || WAM || {{UAE}}
|-
|[[European Pressphoto Agency]] || EPA || {{EUR}}
|-
|[[Fars News Agency]] || FNA || {{IRN}}
|-
|[[Icana News Agency|Islamic Consultative Assembly News Agency]] || ICANA || {{IRN}}
|-
|[[İhlas News Agency]] || IHA || {{TUR}}
|-
|[[IRNA|Islamic Republic News Agency]] || IRNA || {{IRN}}
|-
|[[Iranian Students' News Agency]] ||ISNA || {{IRN}}
|-
|[[Indo-Asian News Service]] || IANS || {{IND}}
|-
|[[Interfax]] || || {{RUS}}
|-
|[[Inter Press Service]] || IPS || {{ITA}}
|-
|[[Jewish Telegraphic Agency]] || JTA || {{USA}}
|-
|[[Jiji Press]] || || {{JPN}}
|-
|[[Kenya News Agency]] || KNA || {{KEN}}
|-
|[[Korean Central News Agency]] || KCNA || {{PRK}}
|-
|[[Kyodo News]] || || {{JPN}}
|-
|[[Lankapuvath]] || || {{LKA}}
|-
|[[Lao News Agency]] || KPL || {{LAO}}
|-
|[[Lusa News Agency]] || LUSA || {{PRT}}
|-
|[[Maghreb Arabe Press]]e || MAP || {{MAR}}
|-
|[[Magyar Távirati Iroda]] || MTI || {{HUN}}
|-
|[[Bernama|Malaysian National News Agency]] || BERNAMA || {{MYS}}
|-
|[[Namibia Press Agency]] || NAMPA || {{NAM}}
|-
|[[National Iraqi News Agency]] || NINA || {{IRQ}}
|-
|[[New Zealand Press Association]] || NZPA || {{NZL}}
|-
|[[News Agency of Nigeria]] || NAN || {{NGA}}
|-
|[[Norsk Telegrambyrå]] || NTB || {{NOR}}
|-
|[[Pacnews]] || || {{NZL}}
|-
|[[Pakistan Press International]] || PPI || {{PAK}}
|-
|[[PanARMENIAN.Net]] || PAN || {{ARM}}
|-
|[[Philippine News Agency]] || PNA || {{PHL}}
|-
|[[Polska Agencja Prasowa]] || PAP || {{POL}}
|-
|[[PA Media]] || PA || {{GBR}}
|-
|[[Pressclub Information Agency]] || PIA || {{BGR}}
|-
|[[Press Trust of India]] || PTI || {{IND}}
|-
|[[Qatar News Agency]] || QNA || {{QAT}}
|-
|[[Reuters]] || || {{GBR}}
|-
|[[Ritzau|Ritzaus Bureau]] || Ritzau || {{DNK}}
|-
|[[Rossiya Segodnya]] || || {{RUS}}
|-
|[[Ruptly]] || || {{RUS}}
|-
|[[Russian News Agency TASS]] || TASS || {{RUS}}
|-
|[[Saba News Agency]] or [[Yemen News Agency]]  || SABA || {{YEM}}
|-
|[[Saudi Press Agency]] || SPA || {{SAU}}
|-
|[[Schweizerische Depeschenagentur]] || SDA || {{CHE}}
|-
|[[Slovenian Press Agency]] || STA || {{SVN}}
|-
|[[Suomen Tietotoimisto]] || STT || {{FIN}}
|-
|[[Syrian Arab News Agency]] || SANA || {{SYR}}
|-
|[[Tahitipresse]] || ATP || {{PYF}}
|-
|[[Tanjug Tačno]] || || {{SRB}}
|-
|[[Télam|Telenoticiosa Americana]] || TELAM || {{ARG}}
|-
|[[Tidningarnas Telegrambyrå]] || TT || {{SWE}}
|-
|[[TDH (news agency)|Turkmenistan State News Agency]]|| TDH ||{{TKM}}
|-
|[[United News of India]] || UNI || {{IND}}
|-
|[[United News of Bangladesh]] || UNB || {{BGD}}
|-
|[[United Press International]] || UPI || {{USA}}
|-
|[[World Entertainment News Network]] || WENN || {{GBR}}
|-
|[[Vietnam News Agency]] || VNA|| {{VNM}}
|-
|[[Via News Agency]] || VIANEWS || {{PRT}}
|-
|[[Xinhua News Agency]] || XINHUA || {{CHN}}
|-
|[[Yonhap|Yonhap News Agency]] || YONHAP || {{KOR}}
|-
|[[ZUMA Press]] || || {{USA}}
|}

== List of commercial press release agencies ==
{{Further|List of press release agencies}}
{{Div col|colwidth=20em}}
* [[Asian News International]]
* [[Business Wire]]
* [[Cision]]
* [[CNW Group]]
* [[GlobeNewswire]]
* [[Korea Newswire]]
* [[PR Newswire]]
* [[PR Web]]
* [[Press Trust of India]]
{{Div col end}}

==See also==
{{Portal|Journalism}}
*[[List of wire services]]
*[[News embargo]]
*[[Press_release#Distribution_models|Press release distribution]]

== References ==
{{Notelist}}
{{Reflist}}

== Further reading ==
* Fenby, Jonathan. ''The International News Services'' (1986) {{ISBN?}}
* Gramling, Oliver. ''AP: The Story of News'' (1940) {{ISBN?}} 
* Kenny, Peter. "News agencies as content providers and purveyors of news: A mediahistoriographical study on the development and diversity of wire services" (MPhil Diss. University of Stellenbosch, 2009) [http://scholar.sun.ac.za/bitstream/handle/10019.1/1616/kenny_news_2009.pdf?sequence=1 online] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170815172557/https://scholar.sun.ac.za/bitstream/handle/10019.1/1616/kenny_news_2009.pdf?sequence=1 |date=2017-08-15 }}, with a detailed bibliography pp.&nbsp;171–200
* Morris, Joel Alex. ''The Deadline Every Minute: The Story of the United Press'' (1957) {{ISBN?}}
* Paterson, Chris A., and Annabelle Sreberny, eds. ''International news in the 21st Century'' (University of Luton Press, 2004) {{ISBN?}}
* Putnis, P. "Reuters in Australia: the supply and exchange of news, 1859–1877" ''Media History'' (2004). 10#2 pp: 67–88.
* Read, D. ''The power of news: the history of Reuters'' (Oxford UP, 1992). {{ISBN?}}
* Schwarzlose, Richard Allen. ''The American wire services: a study of their development as a social institution'' (1979) {{ISBN?}}
* Stephens, M. ''A history of news'' (3rd ed. Oxford UP, 2007). {{ISBN?}}
* Sterling, C. H. "News agencies" in ''Encyclopedia of international media and communications'' (2003) 3: 235–246.
* Storey, Graham. ''Reuter's Century'' (1951) {{ISBN?}}
* Xin, X. "A developing market in news: Xinhua News Agency and Chinese newspapers" ''Media, Culture & Society'' (2006) 28#1 pp: 45–66.

== External links ==
* {{commons category-inline|News agencies}}

{{News agencies}}
{{Authority control}}

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[[Category:Print syndication]]
[[Category:Journalism]]