A news agency is an organization that gathers news reports and sells them to subscribing news organizations, such as newspapers, magazines, and radio and television broadcasters. Major agencies, including Havas, the Associated Press and Reuters, were founded in the nineteenth century and remain distinct from paid press release distribution services.
A news agency is an organization that gathers news reports and sells them to subscribing news organizations such as newspapers, magazines and radio and television broadcasters, according to Wikipedia. News organizations subscribe to receive articles in bulk, originally by telegraphy and today frequently over the internet, and agency content is generally prepared so it can be used by subscribing outlets with little or no modification.
The industry's major agencies date back over a century: Havas was founded in France in 1835, the Associated Press was established in the United States in 1846, the German agency Wolff in 1849, and Reuters in Britain in 1851 by former Havas employees. In 1865, Reuters and Wolff signed agreements with Havas's successor that divided Europe into exclusive reporting zones for each agency, an early example of how the industry organized itself around territory and syndication.
It is worth distinguishing a news agency from a commercial press release distribution newswire. A news agency employs its own journalists to report and write original stories, which it then sells to outlets. A commercial newswire, by contrast, charges organizations to distribute their own already-written press releases to subscribing journalists, without independently reporting or verifying the content.
How to use this distinction in practice: 1) Recognize that coverage from a news agency's own reporters is independent journalism, not something an organization can simply purchase. 2) Treat a paid newswire distribution service as separate from earned coverage by an agency's journalists. 3) When pitching, understand whether you are trying to interest an agency's reporter in an original story, or simply distributing a release through a paid wire.
QUESTIONS
What is a news agency?
It is an organization that gathers news through its own journalists and sells that coverage to subscribing outlets such as newspapers, magazines and broadcasters, historically distributed by telegraph and now mostly over the internet.
When were major news agencies founded?
Havas began in France in 1835, the Associated Press in the United States in 1846, Wolff in Germany in 1849, and Reuters in Britain in 1851. These four shaped much of the early structure of international news distribution.
How is a news agency different from a press release distribution service?
A news agency employs its own reporters who produce original, independently reported journalism sold to outlets. A press release distribution service instead charges organizations to send out their own already-written releases to subscribers, without independent reporting.
Does earned coverage from a news agency cost money?
No, not in the sense of paying for placement; agency journalists decide independently what to cover based on news judgment. Organizations can pitch a story, but cannot buy agency coverage the way they can pay to distribute a release on a commercial newswire.
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