NEWS AGENCIES Their Structure and Operation UNESCO NEWS AGENCIES Published in 1953 by the United Nations Educational, Scientijc and Cultural Organization 19, avenue Kle'ber, Paris-16e Printed by Gorges Lang, Paris. Printed in France YC.52.D.ltlA FOREWORD e The Constitution. of Unesco states that the organization will “collaborate in the work of advancing the mutual knowledge and understanding of peoples, through all means of mass communication”. Thus the Organization was doing no more than carry out one of its fundamental obligations, when it set itself, from its inception, to study the problems involved in the transmission of news and the informing of public opinion. If the freejow of information and ideas is to be ensured, the progress which has been achieved in the jield of technology, and which has made possible the faster and fuller transmission of news must be utilized to serve an ever greater part of mankind. It was to further this aim that Unesco jirst undertook the compilation of the most exhaustive possible inventory of the existing technical facilities of communication: a world-wide survey was begun in 1947 and jinished in 1951. Such a survey could only confirm the capital role played by telegraphic news agencies in informing public opinion. Reports on the survey were published year by year in the series Press, Film, Radio,l but as they dealt with the communication jacilities available country by country, it was not possible to give a complete picture of the intricate news agency operations across the world. For the man in the street, his sources of news lie in the newspaper, the radio, the newsreel and the documentary, but a special study was needed to examine the way in which the raw news material reaches these media and to understand thefunction- ing of national and world news agencies and the relations between them.2 To prepare the present study the information collected during the surveys in each country was collated and regrouped according to a standard pattern for each agency. The individual - agencies were then requested to correct and amplify the report on their activities thus presented. The great majority of them willingly agreed to co-operatein this work. For the historical chapter information was obtained not only from published sources but also from the agencies themselves, who provided Unesco with data from their archives. The chapter on the legal status of agencies was prepared by Mr. F. Terrou (France), a specialist on the legislation concerning information media. Finally,for the technical chapters, the International Telecommunication Union very kindly placed its vast documentation service at Unesco’s ditfposal and assisted the Organization with the udvice of its experts. Unesco wishes to record its gratitude to the Secretary-General of the ITU, to the directors of news agencies and to all who have co-operated in the preparation of this work. 1 Reports on he Facilities of Mass Communication: Press, Film, Radio. Five volumes, Unesco, Paris, 1947-51. The data published in this book have been checked as carefully as possible, but certain errors may still remain uncorrected. For future editions, it would be greatly appreciated if any such errors or omissions were drawn to Unesco’s attention. ,. .... .. .. I .. .. .... .. .. TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION .................... 9 CHAPTER I. HISTORICAL REVIEW The Creation and Development of Telegraphic News Agencies . ...... 11 Chronological List of Telegraphic News Agencies ............ 15 Evolution of the Relations between the World News Agenciea . ...... 18 Relations between the World Telegraphic Agencies and Other Agencies I ..... 20 Relations between National News Agencies ............. 21 Agreements between Telegraphic News Agencies ............ 22 CHAPTER 11 . THE LEGAL ORGANIZATION OF NEWS AGENCIES The Particular Legal Problems of News Agencies ........... 23 The Legal Definition of News Agencies.............. 24 The Constitution of News Agencies ............... 25 The Functioning of News Agencies: Conditions and Legal Status of the Service for the Collection and Dissemination of News ................. 29 The Problem of the Legal Protection of News 31 ............ \ CHAPTER 111 . THE TELEGRAPHIC NEWS AGENCIES A . World Agencies .................. 35 B . National Agencies ................. 62 C . Specialized Telegraphic News Agencies .............132 D . Telegraphic News Agencies which have Ceased Operation ........139 CHAPTER IV. TELECOMMUNICATION AND THE TRANSMISSION OF NEWS 'r The Growth of International Communication ............146 The Use of Telecommunication by News Agencies ...........153 CHAPTER v . THE INTERNATIONAL REGULATION OF PRESS MESSAGES The Evolution of the International Regulations of Telecommunication. ......161 General Regulations of Particular Interest to the Press ..........167 Regulations Specifically Dealing with Press Telegrams ..........173 CHAPTER VI. NEWS AGENCIES AND RADIO BROADCASTING Development of News Broadcasts ..............I 178 Sources of News for Broadcasting Stations .............182 Broadcasting as a Source of Information .............182 CHAPTER VII. HOW THE GENERAL PUBLIC IN EACH COUNTRY RECEIVES ITS NEWS Classification of Countries or Territmies according to the Manner in which World News is Distributed 185 Classification of Countries or Territories according to the World Telegraphic Agencies within whose Zones of Influence they fall ................193 I CONCLUSION .., ..................199 APPENDIX . ; ...................203 INDEX. ALPHABETICAL LIST OF TELEGRAPHIC NEWS AGENCIES ..........206 INTRODUCTION Something of a revolution in journalism occurred when the so-called “cheap press” first made its appearance in France in 1836, and in Great Britain, following the final abolution of the stamp duties, 19 years later. The newspapers, which until then had been concerned more with principles and polemics than with “news” proper, changed their character and became organs of information, and it was clear that no publication in any country had the financial and technical means to gather, transmit and ensure the rapid reception of all the news henceforth demanded by its readers, whose curiosity was expanding with their education. Thus the birth of the great “news” organs of the press was a factor in the development of telegraphic agencies. These, which at first were commercial enterprises, could, by selling news to an ever-increasing number of customers, supply them with this commodity at less expense and as quickly as the telegraphic facilities of the period permitted. Telegraphic news agencies have evolved rapidly since their introduction just over 100 years ago, this process being considerably assisted by the improvement and general spread of telecommunications. Today, no newspaper or broadcasting station in the world which wants to keep its readers or listeners informed of world events can afford to forego the services of a telegraphic news agency. Even for domestic news, newspapers and radio stations will find it useful to subscribe to the country’s national agency, however many their own local correspondents may be, if only to ensure that they have not “missed” any important event. A national agency is better equipped than they are to provide a complete national information service. When it comes to “foreign” news, only the great international telegraphic agencies have the financial and technical resouces and the powerful and comprehensive organization required for gathering and transmitting all the essential news of the world in the shortest possible time. Indeed, it is even less possible today than it was a century ago for a single paper-or the news service of a single broadcasting station-to bear the cost of sending and maintaining correspondents abroad or the costs of transmission, and the greatly increased number of news centres throughout the world does not make matters any easier. In addition, the speedy transmission of news-an increasingly important factor- requires .delicate and expensive equipment which no newspaper 01- broadcasting station could afford to set up in all parts of the world for its own exclusive use. Intensified competition between papers and the prestige as news distributors acquired during the second world war by broadcasting stations-a prestige they are anxious to retain- compel all newspapers and radio stations to subscribe to the services of one or more telegraphic news agencies. Wemay therefore conclude that it is only through the services of national 9 and world agencies that the general public in each country can be kept informed of what is going on at home and abroad.1 At the end of the nineteenth and at the beginning of the twentieth century, national agencies were still few in number. Moreover, by agreements between themselves, the world agencies had to all intents and purposes divided the world into zones, in each of which one agency had a news-gathering and distribution monopoly.2 Consequently, countries received their news from a single source-from Havas, from Rauters or from Wolff. About the same time, a national co-operative newspaper agency, the Associated Press, was established in the United States. It concluded agreements with the three European agencies, which pro- vided it with the same service of world news they sent to other countries. In 1952, the situation is no longer the same. The world agencies have ceased, in prin- ciple, to have a monopoly in “exclusive” zones, and may (except when the law in certain countries forbids it) distribute their services