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.

Michael Beaussenat Palmer is Emeritus Professor at the Université de la Sorbonne Nouvelle, France. He is the author of 150 academic journal articles and twelve books in French and English, including Des petits journaux aux grandes agences (1983), with Jeremy Tunstall, Media Moguls (1991) and, with Oliver Boyd-Barrett,Le trafic des nouvelles (1981).   

Chapter I. Before the Birth, and the First Steps of News Agencies: The (London) Times and the First International News Agencies, 183050s.- Chapter 2. Reuters S. Engländer and Intra-European Agency Negotiations, 184790s.- Chapter 3. A Widening World? Agencies and International News in an Age of Empire, 18481914.- Chapter 4. World War I and the Agencies.- Chapter 5. Inter-war Years: Towards the End of The CartelInter-agency and International Strife.- Chapter 6. World War II and the Cold War: News in a Worldwide Age of Censorship and Propaganda.- Chapter 7. The US Agencies 194482: Expansionist AP; the Changing Fortunes of UP(I).- Chapter 8. Agence France-Presse and Reuters, 194491: Beginnings and Renewal- Chapter 9. Money, Money, Money: Bloomberg, Reuters and a Changing Agency Scene; International News-Reporting a Continuing Priority. Agencies Monitor Performance. (77I4).- Chapter 10. CoveringUS Presidential Elections: 2000Bush vs. Gore.- Chapter 11. The End of the British Reuters.- Chapter 12.  News Technology: All Together?; On the News FrontYes and No.- Chapter 13. By Way of Conclusion: Final Remarks.