International News Agencies: A History

Description

International news-agencies, such as Reuters, the Associated Press and Agence France-Presse, have long been ‘unsung heroes’ of the media sphere. From the mid-nineteenth century, in Britain, the US, France and, to a lesser extent, Germany, a small number of agencies have fed their respective countries with international news reports. They informed governments, businesses, media and, indirectly, the general public. They helped define ‘news’. Drawing on years of archival research and first-hand experience of major news agencies, this book provides a comprehensive history of the leading news agencies based in the UK, France and the USA, from the early 1800s to the present day. It retraces their relations with one another, with competitors and clients, and the types of news, information and data they collected, edited and transmitted, via a variety of means, from carrier-pigeons to artificial intelligence. It examines the sometimes colourful biographies of agency newsmen, and the rise and fall of news agencies as markets and methods shifted, concluding by looking to the future of the organisations. Contents Introduction, Abbreviations, Conventions Keywords Abbreviations and Conventions Chapter 1: Before the Birth, and the First Steps of News Agencies: The (London) Times and the First International News Agencies, 1830–50s Paris, Early 1830s: Charles-Louis Havas Opens a News Bureau Electric Telegraphy: Britain, Germany, the US, France PJR: Reuters In the USA: Beginnings of AP and The New York Daily Times Chapter 2: Reuter’s S. Engländer and Intra-European Agency Negotiations, 1847–90s European Agencies Sigmund Engländer What Was His Background? Chapter 3: A Widening World? Agencies and International News in an Age of Empire, 1848–1914 The US: European News Electric Telegraphy and News Transmission US-Europe Agency Relations Within the US … The Approach of World War I Anthologies Chapter 4: World War I and the Agencies Havas and Reuters US Agencies News from a Europe at War and in Revolution Copyright in News Chapter 5: Inter-war Years: Towards the End of “The Cartel”—Inter-agency and International Strife Post-World War I: Diplomacy and Agencies—As Seen from the US Post-World War I: Europe and News Agencies Havas UP and AP AP (K. Cooper) and Reuters (R. Jones) 1934: The Beginning of the End of “Ring Arrangements”—the Far East as Testing Ground? Mid-1930s: Top International News Stories Reuters’ Dick Sheepshanks and The Times’ Kim Philby A “Reuterian” Career in the Mid-1930s Havas and European Diplomacy, Viewed from London Newsmen Interview Politicians Reuters and the Media Scene in Britain: Competitors New and Old Decline of the “Ring” Chapter 6: World War II and the Cold War: News in a Worldwide Age of Censorship and Propaganda From Havas News to OFI Agence France-Presse, 1944–57; AP and Reuters Post-World War II Reuters and the US Agencies AFP: Jacques Marcuse Reuters’ Doon Campbell and John Peet Chapter 7: The US Agencies 1944–82: Expansionist AP; the Changing Fortunes of UP(I) US Agency Strengths and Weaknesses UPI’s “Trail of Tears” News-Film UPI: A Slow Demise The AP Interviewing AP Correspondents Overview Chapter 8: Agence France-Presse and Reuters, 1944–91: Beginnings and Renewal AFP Reuters General News: International News Gathering Reuters in China Reuters Reports Paris May–June 1968 Reuters Revival Gerald Long’s Crusade Against UNESCO Chapter 9: “Money, Money, Money”: Bloomberg, Reuters and a Changing Agency Scene; International News-Reporting a Continuing Priority. Agencies Monitor Performance. (77I4) Blooming Bloomberg Journalists and Management Reuters and Internet Executives, Managers, Journalists Ex-Yugoslavia From Mort Rosenblum to Sayed Salahuddin Reuters’ Bernd Debusmann Chapter 10: Covering US Presidential Elections: 2000—Bush vs. Gore Reuters Covers the Bush–Gore 2000 Campaign Chapter 11: The End of the “British” Reuters The Job-Glocer Years “Fall from Grace” Chapter 12: News Technology: All Together?; On the News Front—“Yes” and “No” Disasters: Haiti, 2010 Money and Politics: RTRs Staff Discuss Coverage Chapter 13: By Way of Conclusion: Final Remarks Index