The Routledge Handbook of News Agencies offers a state-of-the-art companion to global news agency history, political economy, business models, and practices across all publishing platforms.With reference to regional, national, and international news agencies, this volume provides a comprehensive overview of the industry, from traditional "wholesale" news gathering to modern digital services. Topics covered include industry history, research methodologies, major agency categories – including alternative and counter-hegemonic examples –, political economy, and business models addressing marketization, innovation, and technology. The volume also addresses some of the major controversies that beset the industry today, including pertaining to government relationships, revenue generation, service diversification, and maintaining accuracy and reliability in an era of fake news, disinformation, and propaganda. Contributors examine how agencies navigate global markets with diverse legal, cultural, and ideological contexts, providing crucial insights into this foundational yet often overlooked sector of the media industry.This Handbook will serve advanced students and researchers of news agencies, media management, and the political economy of news around the world.
Oliver Boyd-Barrett is Professor Emeritus at Bowling Green State University, USA, and at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona.Pedro Aguiar is Professor of Journalism at the Department of Communication, Fluminense Federal University (IACS/UFF), Brazil.Christian A. Vukasovich is Assistant Professor at the University of Southern Maine, USA.
List of contributorsIntroductionOliver Boyd-Barrett, Pedro Aguiar and Christian VukasovichSection 1. Histories of news agencies around the worldChapter 1: News Agencies as Objects of Study: Two centuries of western-centered system and scholarshipOliver Boyd-Barrett and Pedro AguiarChapter 2:. The Early Expansion of News Agencies in the Global South: History, historiography and journalismRhoda Desbordes VelaChapter 3:. News Agencies between the World Wars, 1919-1939Heidi TworekSection 2. Methodological Approaches to News Agency ScholarshipChapter 4:. Studying News Agencies: Interview, newsroom ethnography and multilingual research approachJasmin Surm Chapter 5:. News Agencies ArchivesMichael PalmerChapter 6:. Researching News Agency Production and ContentChris Paterson and Dani Madrid MoralesSection 3. Transnational News AgenciesChapter 7:. Reuters: The Baron, homing pigeons and an illustrious past – but what of the future?Stephen Jukes Chapter 8.1:. Associated Press: The First Century (1840 to 1945)Gene Allen Chapter 8.2:. Associated Press (1945-2025): From an American news agency to a global digital playerPatrick White Chapter 9:. Agence France-Presse (AFP): Carrying on the legacy of the first news agencyMichael Palmer Chapter 10:. Xinhua: Asserting global leadershipXin Xin Chapter 11:. TASS: Stability and transformation through the century of changeElena VartanovaSection 4. National and Regional News AgenciesChapter 12:. EFE: News agency for the Spanish-speaking worldCarlos Pérez Gil Chapter 13:. Deutsche Presse-Agentur (dpa): Germany's market leader builds upon reliability and adaptationHans-Ulrich Wagner Chapter 14:. The Canadian Press: Walking a tightrope between cooperation and competitionGene Allen Chapter 15:. Anadolu and private news agencies in Turkey: media capture and competitive authoritarianismServet Yanatma Chapter 16:. Télam: A sudden end after decades of political confrontationMarcelo Botto Chapter 17:. Press Trust of India (PTI): Independent India projects its own voiceDevina SinghChapter 18:. A Captured Icon: Tanjug’s hard lessons for the global news systemChristian VukasovichChapter 19:. ANSA: Italy’s innovative model for news agency managementMarco TortoraSection 5. The External Environment: Partnership, Regulation and Markets of News AgenciesChapter 20:. From Wholesaler to Retailer: The future of the news agencies industryIgnacio Muro BenayasChapter 21:. Regulation of News Agencies in the context of the Digital Society in the European UnionJordi FortunyChapter 22:. Cooperation versus competition: The battle NZPA lostGavin EllisChapter 23:. Regionalization of News Agencies in Peripheral Markets: the case of Reuters in South AfricaZanetta Lyn JansenSection 6. Digitization, Social Media and Innovation in News AgenciesChapter 24:. The Future of Independent News Agencies: A vision of innovation and collaborationClemens PigChapter 25:. Information Management and Copyright Control in News Agencies: the IPTC and MINDS InternationalPedro AguiarChapter 26:. Social Media, Disinformation and Verification in News AgenciesStephen JukesSection 7. Specialized news agency servicesChapter 27:. The Terminal Revolution: Reuters and Bloomberg as global providers of financial and economic newsGerben BakkerChapter 28:. The International Television News AgenciesChris PatersonChapter 29:. Processing Video News Agencies inside Brazilian Newsrooms: Critical issues about framing and shaping the worldMaria Cleidejane EsperidiãoChapter 30:. The Global Photojournalism Distribution Networks: The case of the international news agenciesJonathan IlanSection 8. News Agency Journalism, Translation, and DiscourseChapter 31:. Theorizing News Agency Journalism: In search of a conceptual frameworkPedro AguiarChpater 32:. Mind Your Language: AP, AFP, and Reuters stylebook guidelines on a “language of objectivity”Sandrine Boudana and Giora GoodmanChapter 33:. News Agencies and Information and Communication Technologies: Demise of the news dispatch?María de los Ángeles González BorgesChapter 34:. Genres in News Agency WritingDinko GruhonjićChapter 35:. Translation in News Agency JournalismLucile Davier and Natalia Rodríguez-BlancoSection 9. Counter-Hegemonic News Agencies: Beyond Traditional DefinitionsChapter 36:. An Alternative News Agency Committed to Democratising Communication: The experience of ALAISally Burch and Osvaldo LeónChapter 37:. The Legacy of the Non-Aligned News Agencies PoolSašo Slaček BrlekChapter 38:. Independent and Counter-Hegemonic News Services in the 21st CenturyLee ArtzIndex