Chapter 6: Global News and Information Flow in the Internet Age

http://globalcomhilda.blogspot.com/2008/11/chapter-6-global-news-and-information.html

Introduction - The expression "internet age" can be used to refer or even describe the era we are living in - Nowadays, the Internet is available to hundreds of millions of people around the world, who can use it for both personal and professional reasons - The Internet is mostly used to get news, information, and entertainment, making the process of getting information active rather than passive as it was the case with most traditional and conventional means of entertainment, information, and communication - The internet is not accessible to everyone everywhere since the world is still facing a strong digital divide - The development of mobile technologies along with the one of the Internet let us predict that future consumption of information will be more based on this digital medium rather than on traditional media - Mass media producers are faced with the information consumers' needs for specialized and varied and with the following question: "Do you just glue on the Internet the paper-and-ink version of the traditional newspaper or magazine, or do you go beyond that in view of the versatility of this revolutionary medium and the unique information needs of the online consumer ?"

I. Origin and Early History of News Agencies At the beginning of the 19th century, newspaper didn't have the technical and financial means to "gather and transmit news from far-flung areas to satisfy readers' growing demand for news", therefore, the emergence of news agencies appeared as a very effective alternative. News agencies could sell their stories to newspapers and supply a large amount of news, which wouldn't be possible to do for simple newspapers.

1. Agence France-Presse (AFP) - Created in 1835 during the emergence of the "cheap press" in France by Charles-Louis Havas, the AFP is the oldest news agency, and is part of today's four major Western international news agencies - Known at its beginning as the Havas Agency, this news agency expanded by hiring more and more correspondents across Europe and by using the "newly invented telegraph for faster delivery news" - As a result, in 1860, the AFP was reporting news from all over Europe, and most European newspapers had a subscription to this agency - Purchased by the French government in 1940 to set up a propaganda office, and taken by Nazi Germany in 1944, it became officially independent in 1957, date when it got its current name, Agence France-Presse 2. Associated Press (AP) - The AP is the result of the initiative of 10 men representing six New York City newspapers in 1848 that wanted to collect international news - The AP expanded very rapidly: by the mid 1890's, 700 newspaper had susbcribed to it

3. Reuters - In 1851, Paul Julius Reuters, a German-born immigrant opened an office in London that started by transmitting "stock quotations between London and Paris using the first undersea cable" - Reuters grew until it had reporters located in Asia, South Africa, and Australia by 1861 - In 1874, the Reuters news agency established its presence in the Far East and in South America - The agency that developed as a family concern became a private company in 1915

4. United Press International (UPI)

- Established in 1907 as the United Press Association because its founder, Scripps, believed that there should be no restriction on who could by news from a news agency - The name of the agency changed to United Press International in May 1958, when the agency merged with the International News Service and the International News Photos - The UPI was different from the other news agencies by challenging the arrangements and exclusiveness that existed among the other news agencies - First sold in 1982, the UPI had to overcome two bankruptcies and had five different owners since then

5. ITAR-TASS - The Information Telegraph Agency of Russia is another of the world's largest news agencies, and is the successor of the Soviet TASS agency that was born in 1904 - The agency has the status of "state central information agency" in Russia

II. International News Agencies Today News agencies today have the possibility to transmit up to 10000 words per minute (contrary to the 60 words per minute in the 1950's) thanks to the development of communication technologies such as: telephone, radio, cable, satellite phone, and the Internet among others 1. Associated Press (AP) - The stated mission of this non-profit-cooperative is to "provide factual coverage of news to all parts of the globe" - The AP serves: 1700 US daily, weekly, non-English, and college newspapers; 5000 radio and television stations in the US, and 8500 newspapers, radio and television subscribers in other 121 countries - It sends about 20 million words and 1000 photos per day to its worldwide subscribers - It serves as a source of news, photos, graphics, audio and video for more than 1 billion people every day

- AP's information can be available in English, French, Spanish, German and Dutch - To respond to its online consumers need in specific fields, the AP added to its staff reporters specialized in: business, technology, sports, entertainment, health, and science; and created a new web-based unit called AP Digital - The agency also offers audio and video services, and short message services (SMS)

2. United Press International (UPI) - The UPI presents itself as a "leading supplier in knowledge-based" information products on the Internet - Its "products" are "designed to meet the appetite of today's Internet clients for ondemand news, analysis, expert advisories and guidance, investigative pieces, and practical intelligence" - UPI provides up-to-date information for readers who want concise formats (100 to 200 words) - "UPI Perspectives" provides readers with issue-focused reports required to make informed business or policy decisions - "UPI Science Reports" provides readers with daily updates on topics related to science, technology, and health - "UPI Newspictures" permits to purchase pictures related to news, entertainment, sports, Washington (speeches, meetings...), lifestyle, and culture - Clients of the UPI include: print publications, websites, multimedia companies, corporations, governments, and academic and policy institutions - They offer information in English, Arabic and Spanish

3. Reuters - Reuters focuses more on providing global financial markets with financial information (real-time financial data; collective investment data; numerical, textual, historical, and graphical databases)

- Reuters claims to be the world's largest international multimedia news agency - News organizations in 157 countries subscribed directly or indirectly to Reuters - Its news are available in English, Spanish, and Portuguese, and widely uses the Internet to deliver information

4. Agence France Presse (AFP) - The AFP is the third largest news agency, and its headquarters are in Paris - The AFP provides general, economic, and sports news in English, French, German, Spanish, Portuguese, and Arabic (2 million words per day) - Its subscribers include: the new and traditional media, businesses, universities, embassies, institutions, and public offices - It has a very appreciated photo service and it offers a variety of online services

5. ITAR-TASS and Interfax - The ITAR-TASS news agency always struggled to be viewed as an independent, objective and reliable source of information because of its heritage, and faces a stiff competition with another Russian news agency, Interfax - Interfax is generally considered as most reliable and credible than ITAR-TASS

III. Supplemental News Agencies - Supplemental news agencies emerged with the willingness of some reporters to write investigative stories with is impossible to their minds with the already established traditional services who produce mass marketed news - Major supplemental services in the US: New York Times News Services, Los Angeles Times-Washington Post News Service, and Dow Jones Newswires

IV. Broadcast News Services

- The two dominant video news agencies today are: Reuters and Associated Press Television News (APTN)

Publi par Hilda El Alaoui