UNIT 2 NEWS AND FEATURE AGENCIES

Structure
2.0 Objectives

2.1 Introduction

2.2 Features of a News Agency

2.2.1 What, after all, is a News Agency?
2.2.2 Jlow is it Different from Newspapers?
2.2.3 Ownership Pattern
2.2.4 F~nancialStructure
2.2.5 The Organisational Structure
2.2.6 How an Agency Operates?

2.3 Growth of the News Agency in India

2.3.1 India attains Independence : State of Agencies
2.3.2 Formation of Various Indian Agencies
2,3.3 Emergency : The Era of Samachar
2.3.4 Growth of Language Wings
2.3.5 Agencies Diversify to Compete
2.3.6 Aligning the Non-aligned

2.4 Differences in Operation of News Agencies and Newspapers

2.4.1 Basic Differences
2.4.2 Differences in Working

2.5 Foreign Agencies in India

2.5.1 Main Agencies Working inIndia
2.5.2 How They Operate in the Country?

2.6 Feature Agencies and Services

2.6.1 Agencies and How They Operate
2.6.2 Syndicated Columnists

2.7 Let Us Sum Up

2.9 Further Reading

2.10 Check Your Progress : Model Answers

2.0 OBJECTIVES
The primary objective of this unit is to make you aware of the working of the news agencies,
and explain how they are different from newspapers.

We are sure that you are aware that the world of the Fourth Estate (the press) is incomplete
without news agencies.. . national and international.

We expect that by the time you complete reading this unit, you will be able to:

describe the main features of a news agency and explain how it differs from
newspapers;

enumerate the number of news agencies in the country and describe their functioning;

pinpoint differences in the operation of newspapers and news agencies;

describe how the forcign news agencies operate, in India;

describe the functioning of feature agencies;

explain how some journalists become syndicated columnists.

 News and Feature Agencies
2.1 INTRODUCTION
Since you started this course, we have been telling you of the various means of
communication. You have, we are sure, already gathered that apart from various other media
the press also plays a major role in educating and informing the people. In the previous unit
itself, we discussed the ownership, organization and management of the press. In this unit,
we now go on to news agencies and feature agencies.

News agencies form a major part of the print media, and are in fact the mainstay, without
which many newspapers would find it difficult to function. Our endeavour in this unit will
be to tell you how the news agencies are indispensable in the newspaper world. We will also
tell you something about the working of these agencies, and explain how they are different
from newspapers.

While reading your daily newspapers, you must have repeatedly come across words like
'UNI', 'PTI', 'VARTA', 'BHASHA', 'AP', 'Reuter', and so on. You may have wondered
what these agencies do and how they are different from one another. We hope to clear some
of these mysteries.

Activity 1

Before we proceed further, engage yourself in an activity.

a) Visit a news agency office in your area and then go to a newspaper office which may
be subscribing to that news agency. In the following space write down whatever you
have observed with regard to functioning in these two offices.

2.2 FEATURES OF A NEWS AGENCY

In this section, we are going to gain some knowledge about what a news agency is, what its
organisational and financial pattern is, how it functions, and how it differs from a
newspaper.

2.2.1 What, after all, is a News Agency?

A news agency is an organisation which collects or ghthers news and supplies it to different
newspapers, magazines, radio stations and television stations subscribing to its service.
News gatheredreported by reporters/correspandentsis sent to newspapers via electronic
teleprinters or computers. These newspapers, in turn, pay a monthly subscription to use
news agencies for the news they receive.

A news agency office is always buzzing with activity, since it has to serve not only the print
media within the country, but also transmit news to All India Radio and Doordarshan. It also
supplies news to newspapers and other agencies all over the world. Thus, the news agency
works round the clock as there may be some newspapers somewhere in the world going to
the press (that is about to be printed) or some radio or TV bulletin about to go on air.

2.2.2 How is it Different fr0m.a Newspaper?

You may wonder how a news agency is different from a newspaper. Having visited a news
agency and a newspaper, you must have already seen that the news agency works in a
completely different fashion.
Ownershippatterns,organisational Firstly, the news agency does not publish any newspaper of its own. Whatever its reporters
structures and managementof writelreport, is transmitted to the newspapers and radio and television stations. It is then up
mass media in India
to the newspaper to use the news item sent by one news agency or that sent by another news
agency, or use the report prepared by its own reporter. In fact,at times, a newspaper may
even prepare an item quoting some paragraphs from one agency, and some from another
agency.

The choice of what item to use will depend on which agency sends its copy faster and which
agency has sent a better written copy.

Thus, there is a constant flow of news from the news agency 24 hours a day, whereas a
newspaper 'goes to sleep' (the printing press) after midnight every night. There are two
other significant differences. Every news agency report has to be attributed to a source,
unlike a newspaper story. Furthermore, there will be no comments, editorializing or
interpretation in a news agency report and it will be purely a factual report.

2.2.3 Ownership Pattern

We are sure that a lot of people, including perhaps yourself, think th'at the news agencies are
owned wholly or partly by the Government. This is not so. But, one wonders then, how the
agencies run a national and sometimes an international operation without substantial
financial support. In bther words, who owns or finances these agencies ?

Well, both the main agencies the-Press Trust of India (PTI) and the United News of India
(UNI). .. are trusts, registered under the Registration of Societies Act. They are owned by
groups of newspapers who have bought shares to run them.

These newspapers have established Boards of Directors, each headed by a Chairman, to .

make the policies of the respective news agencies. The Boards have representatives of
prominent newspapers as well as public figures.
'
As you will realise, the same newspapers may be on the Boards of both PTI and UNI. But
do not forget that there is a constant professional competition between the two agencies and,
therefore, the Boards may take decisions on how to keep ahead of the other agency.
Naturally, it would not be appropriate to have the same person sitting on both Boards.
Therefore, the newspapers assign different representatives on the Boards. For example, the
Editor of "The Statesman" is on the FT ' I Board, the newspaper's proprietor or some other
nominee will be on the UNI Board.

But apart from meeting four or five times in a year to decide on policy matters, the Boards
do not interfere in the day-to-day functioning of the agencies.

2.2.4 Financial Structure

As you have already seen, various newspapers and the electronic media, apart from
government departments and private entrepreneurs, buy the news from the agencies.

For this purpose, a teleprinterlcomputer is installed at the office of the subscriber. This is
maintained by the agency, just like the telephone in your house is maintained by the
Telephone Department. Thus, any repairs are carried out by technicians of the agency
concerned.

The newspapers and other subscribers pay a monthly subscription fee, plus rental charges
for the computerlteleprinter, apart from the installation charges paid when the subscription
was first taken. The rate of subscription is determined by specific criteria like circulation of
a newspaper, and it remains the same, irrespective of whether the newspaper uses the news
items sent out by the agency or not.

As we said earlier, the Government does not own the agencies. But like other subscribers,
t l ~ cGovernment-All India Radio, Doordarshan, various Ministers, ~ihisterialoffices and
other governtnental departments-is also a subscriber. Ultimately, the Government is the
largest subscriber.

2.2.5 The Organisational Structure

As stated earlier, the Board does not interfere in the day-to-day functioning.of the agency.
The agency is run by a General ~ana~er-cum-chief
~ d i t o rwho
, is assisted by Deputy News and Feature Agencies
General Managers or Deputy Editors.

The Editorial Desk, which we loosely refer to as the Desk, is under the charge of a News
Editor, while the reporting section is under the charge of a Chief of Bureau. The reporting
staff is divided into two groups: the Reporters who deal with day-to-day reporting are under
a Chief Reporter and the Correspondents who deal with Ministerial or Legislative reporting
are under the Chief of Bureau. Thus, the Chief Reporter is also answerable to the Chief of
Bureau.

Apart from this, there are the transmission, technical, administration and account, from
where it is immediately sent to the subscribers. Meanwhile, one or two reporters rush to the
scene, and collect whatever facts they can get from eyewitnesses and police, and then either
file the story by telephone or ruSh back to give their stories. (All the reporters are expected
to know how to type. ) Thus, within two or three minutes of the phone call by the caller, the
first report would go out to the world. The other reports may also be on the wire within
hours.

The agencies have offices in all the state capitals, and full-time or part-time (stringers)
reporters in almost all the districts. They also have correspondents in many world capitals
and at the United Nations. News agencies do not generally accept contributions from
freelancers unless commissioned by the agency for particular event.

The news agencies are generally the first to get wind of a news break, be it disaster,
announcement, or election result. Each agency takes pride in being the first to break the
news to its subscribers; thus beating the other agency. For instance, PTI was the first to
break the news of former Prime Minister, Rajiv Gandhi's assassination. Similarly, UNI was
the first to report that Mr Premdasa of Sri Lanka had been killed in the blast in the island
country. UNI also reported the magnitude of the earthquake of September 30,1993, to the
world about an hour before PTI. The news of the Sati by Roop Kanwar which shook the
nation some years ago was also highlighted by the UNI.

So fast is the functioning of the agencies that a news report on the bomb blast at the Youth
Congress office in Delhi was on the teleprinters within fourteen minutes of its occurrence in
September 1993.

But we will talk more.about the speed at which news agencies work, and the pros and cons
of this, when we talk of differences in the operations of newspapers and news agencies.
Activity 2

Prepare a questionnaire for the General Manager of a News Agency covering the
following aspects of the agency :

day-to-day functioning of the agency

ownership pattern
decision making procedure
recruitment pattern and procedure
the weaknesses which need to be strengthened.

Check Your Progress 1

Note : i) Use the space given below to answer the questions in about five to seven
sentences each.
ii) Compare your answers with those given at the end of this Unit.
1) List 3 ways in which a news agency differs from a newspaper.

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Ownershlppatterns,organisational
structures and management of 2) HOWdoes a news agency work out its finances?
mass media in India
.......................................................................................................................................
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3) Outline the organisational itructure of the reporting section in a news agency.

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L

4) Briefly trace a story filed by a reporter in a news agency from the moment a source
calls in to pass on vital information, to the time the news reaches the subscriber.
1
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5) Tick (4)the correct answers :
5.1. PTI and UNI are owned by :

a) the government

b) the public

c) Reuters.

d) the newspapers

5.2 News agencies

a) publish daily newspapers

b) publish monthly magazines

c) broadcast news on radio

d) supply news to their subscribers

5.3 NeGs agency reporters :

a) get their news in their office .

b) receive the news on the teleprinter

c) have to go put to collect news

2.3 GROWTH OF THE NEWS AGENCY IN INDIA

By now, you mu'st have got a good idea of what a news agency is and how it operates. Also
you must have become familiar with its management and financial structure.

In this section, we are going to tell you something about the history and growth of the
Indian news agencies from their inception to the present day. We will describe the state'of News and Feature Agencies
news agencies at the time of Independence. Further, we will tell you their development plans
for the future.

As you know by now, there.are two main English news agencies operating in the country-
the United News of India and the Press Trust of India-and they have also established their
language wings. There are a few other smaller English and Hindi news agencies too, but
more of that later.

2.3.1 India Attains Independence : State of Agencies

When India attained its independence from British rule on August 15, 1947, some vestiges
of the British remained behind. The news agencies operating in the country at that time were
either foreign agencies with offices in India or British-owned Indian agencies.

The foreign agencies operating in India then, which are still reporting from India, include
Reuter, the United Press International, the Agence France Presse etc. The Associated Press
came sometime later. This structure has no doubt changed and we will discuss that later.

In addition, there were India-based news agencies like the United Press of India and the
Associated Press of India, both of which had owners who were only too willing to leave the
country for their homeland at the time of Independence. They soon began winding up
operations.

2.3.2 Formation of Various Indian Agencies

The Government of Independent India, under Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, had begum
encouraging Indians to start their own Indian news agencies, so that these would give a more
balanced picture of the developmental activities going on at the time.

Encouraged by the Government, some major newspapers joined together to form a trust, and
the^ set op independent India's first news agency, the Press Trust of India (PTI) in 1949. It
took over the business of the Associated Press of India, which was in the process of winding
up. The API had been a subsidiary of the Reuters.

The PTI functioned as the only agency for the next eleven years. It will surprise you to know
that although both PTI and the United News of India (UNI) are professional rivals, the UNI '
owes its birth to PTI.

Since PTI has little competition, its working was not considered good enough for the
standard of a news agency. The PTI Board of Directors felt that something needed to be
done to pull it out of its lethargy. One immediate solution was that another Indian agency
should be set up to compete with the PTI.

Thus the United News of India was formed in 1961 and registered under the Societies Act.
Like PTI, the UNI was.also lucky to inherit the assets of the United Press of India, then in
the process of winding up.

The PTI had headquarters in Bombay, though the main administration continued to be in
Delhi, while UNI has its head office in Delhi.

Earlier, in 1948, a Hindi news agency had come into being. Called the Hindustan Samachar,
it was backed by some political and private groups. Later, in 1966, another Hindi agency,
the Samachar Bharti, came into being. Although both agencies had limited subscribers
confined to certain areas of the country, they functioned more or less on the same lines as of
PTI and UNI. Another news agency, the Asia News International (ANI) came up in the late
eighties, but is yet to start all-India operations.

2.3.3 Emergency :The Era of Samachar

All the four agencies saw their ups and downs. The PTI, being the oldest, was more stable
than the others. The Hindi agencies were never on a very solid ground, financially, since
their inception. The UNI started gaining its strength, since 1969.

Several political cvents were happening in the mid-seventies, after the then Prime Minister,
Mrs Indira Gandhi had signalled certain changes. Following the events that took place as a
consequence of the Suvreme Court judgement in an election wtition against Mrs. Gandhi,
0wnershippattems,orga&ational the Prime Minister suddenly promulgated a National Emergency in the entire country on
s~~ and management of June 25, 1975.
mass media in India
One of the stipulations of the Emergency was imposition of press censorship in the entire
country. For the agencies, this functioned in a very special way. A Censor Office was
established in the Press Information Bureau-which is the publicity wing of the government
-and the news agencies were directed to send all their copy (news items typed by reporters)
to this office every hour. After the Censor Officers had gone through the news items and
used their red pencil to cut out what should not go, the rest was sent back, to be used.

From time to time, the Government also issued certain directives about what to report and
what not to report. For example, the Government asked the news agencies to stop reporting
cases relating to the Maintenance of Internal Security Act (MISA) pending in various High
Courts or in the Supreme Court.

However, the Government felt that not all the agencies were following these directives, and
the impression began to gain ground that m e agency was less controlled than the other.

Consequently; in a surprise action, the government decided to merge the news agencies into
a single unit so that it would be easier to control.
On February 16, 1976, orders were received by the agencies that all of them had ceased to
dxist and a new news agency called Samachar had been created. The surprise order said that
the UNI and the two Hindi agencies would be shut down, and Samachar would operate from
the building of the formerJ PTI.The managerial and editing staff was also reorganised, and
the topmost posts were given to the staff of the PTI.
The Hindi agencies, which were not doing well financially, welcomed this merger.
However, the UNI staff felt let down. But the situation was accepted and the agency
continued to Work as one, under a new regime. Naturally, parity was. brought in the wages of
the staff, since the PTI salaries were higher than the salaries in the other agencies. For this
purpose, the Government gave financial help on a tapering basis.

Late in 1977, circumstances forced Mrs. Gandhi to order General Elections, and she was
thrown out of power. The Janata Party, led by Mr. Morarji Desai, was swept to power.
After the new government came to power, large sections of the staff of Samachar, mostly
belonging to the Ibnner UNI, demonstrated with the Government. After much deliberation, News and Feature Agencies
in April, 1978, the Government announced that Samachar would cease to exist from
September, 1978 and the former four news agencies would be brought to life again.

Thus, you can see that the news agencies saw some very interesting changes in the mid-
seventies.

The four news agencies came back to life in September, 1978. But the Hindi agencies,
whose general income was low, began to crumble under the weight of the increased wages
ahd higher costs.

2.3.4 Growth of Language Wings

With the two existing Hindi agencies not being able to work efficiently to meet the demands
of the newspapers, the UNI in 1982 launched UMVARTA, its Hindi Wiilg.

Since it was a wing of UNI, it worked initially only on translated stories. However, it
gradually built up its own staff for both editing and reporting.

Naturally, the emergence of a new Hindi agency further damaged lhe existing Hindi
agencies, since the staff came mostly from Samachar Bharti and Hindustan Samdchar.

A couple of years later, the PTI also started its Hindi wing, called PTI Bhasha.

Today, both the Hindi wings are serving the majority of language newspapers in the country,
and the I- ind dust an Samachar and Samachar Bharti, are virtually shut down, though they
continue to work in pockets in the country.

Jn May 1992, the UNI took one other step, by introducing the world's first Urdu News
Service. Thus, for the first time in the world, Urdu news is being transmitted by teleprinter/
computer using Arabic script.

2.3.5 Agencies Diversify to Compete

As the agencies grew in size in terms of subscribers, it was felt that supplying the teleprinter
service to the newspapers was not enough. Both the agencies felt the nced to diversify, and
as one came up with an idea, the other was sure to come up with hnothcr to keep up the
competition. This also became necessary to keep pace with the advancing communication
technology.

Thus, besides the news services, both the news agencies arc now providing several other
services, some of them aimed at specialised business interests.

Some of the services being given by the PTI are

News Scan : Display of news on the television screen. just like the
Teletext ser <iceof Doordarshan.

Comscan : Display of news of a commcrcial nature meant for banla and

business houses on the TV screen.

Features : Sent as mailer (by post) service weekly in English q ~ Hindi

d
on various subjects.

Economic Service : Fortnightly mailers caliyiiig news and features of a

commercial nature.

Science Service : Fortnightly mailer on sclence features.

Stockscan : A national stock exchange net~-ark

for display of share
prices.

Photo Service : The first photo wlre service in the servlce.

PTI TV : A service mainly for supplying news and features to

Doordarshan. Registered as a news agency with
Doordarshan.
 ,
Ownershippatterns,organisational Development Corporation for manufacture of
structures and management of
mass media in India communication-related equipment.
The U M has not lagged behind. Apart from being the first to start the Hindi service and the
Urdu service, it was also the first to earn foreign exchange by selling news abroad to the
Gulf countries, Singapore and Mauritius via teleprinter and satellite. It has a separate
editorial desk for these services.

Some of the other additional services of U M are<:

Stock Exchange : Teleprinter service for business houses

Service

Financial Service : Teleprinter service for business houses

UNICON : Economic mai!ers issued weekly

\
UNEN : Energy Service mailers issued weekly
Agriculture Service : Agriculture mailers issued weekly

Feature Service : Weekly features by mailer

Backgrounder Service : Weekly printed mailer on different subjects of national

interest, always topical

UNICAN : Display of news and commercial information on the TV

Screen. As this service came after PTI, it has some new
features like colour screen

Photo Service : UNI was the first to introduce this

Unidarshan (TV) : News and feature service for Doordarshan and other parties

Videotex : An information service that provides visual information in

interactive manner, jointly with the Department of
Telecommunications, thc Mahanagar Telephone Nigam
Limited and the Tele-Communications Consultants India
Limited.

UNI Graphics : Sent by Courierlmail

2.3.6 Aligning the Non-Aligned

As you are aware, India is one of the founder members of the Non-Aligned Movement, and
has always played a leading part in this movement. In case you are beginning to wonder how
this movement finds a place in this piece on news agencies, the answer is not difficult to
find.

In the late seventies, the non-aligned countries, at one of their summits;discussed how the .
international news agencies and visual media, were damaging the understanding amongst
peoples by misrepresenting facts. It was suggested, and commonly adopted by all, that the
non-aligned countries should have their own news agency. It was agreed that before such an
agency could be set up, one national news agency would coordinate on behalf of each
member country to present and disseminate news on behalf of a Non-aligned Newspool.

In India, this task is being performed on by the FTI on behalf of the Government. The PTI
gets an annual grant from the Government for this purpose. The aim is to receive the news
from other newspoor member agencies and disseminate it to newspapers in the country, and
to send news to other member news agencies.
*
Check Your Progress 2

I Note : i) Use the space given below for your answers.

I
( ii) Compare your answers with those given at the end of this unit.
I
I) Match the fbllowing items in column A with the correct items in column B.
I
 (a) India's first Hindi news agency

(b) Started in 1966

3) Hindustan Samachar

4) Samachar Bharti
(c) News agency which came first
(d) Launched the world's first Urdu
I
news agency service.

IZ) Answer in 2 or 3 sentences each.

1) What was the rationale behind the decision to merge the four existing news
nc~ ?
agencies during the ~ r n e r ~ e period
............................................................................................................................

2) List any 3 services being provided by the PTI's specialised department.

............................................................................................................................

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3) List any 3 special services that the UNI provides.

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..
4) In what way had the birth of the PTI and UNI become possible ?

............................................................................................................................
In) Tick (4)the correct answers in the given multiple choice questions..
3.1 The four news agencies were merged during Emergency to form :
a. Reuters
b. Samachar
c. United News Agencies
3.2 The merger of the news agencies occurred on :
a. June 25,1975
b. April, 1978
c. February 16, 1976

3.3 The UNI started a Hindi Wing called :

a. UNI Hindi Service
b. Hindustan Samachar
c. UNIVARTA
Ownershippattcrn~,organisational
structures and management of
3.4 The UNI and PTI also have services catering to:
mass media in India a. architects
b. engineers
c. business houses

2.4 DIFFERENCE IN OPERATION OF NEWS AGENCIES

AND NEWSPAPERS
By now, you must have formed a clear idea of what a news agency is, and how it functions.
Now let us ask a question: Apart from the fact that news agencies collect news and send it to
other newspapers, what are the other differences the agencies and newspapers have? Here,
we will try and find out the answers to this question.

2.4.1 Basic Difference

Well, we have already seenithat a news agency works for newspapers, collecting news on
their behalf. It is, in fact, financed by newspapers. Unlike newspapers which may be owned
by an individual o r a company, a news agency is owned by a trust jointly formed by
, newspapers. Unlike newspapers which may be owned by an individual or a company, a
news agency is owned by a trust jointly formed by newspapers. A newi agency,
' furthermore, does not publish any newspaper of its own.

2.4.2 Differences in Working

Apart from these basic differences, there are some other differences ir: the working. These
i may be summed up as below:
i) In the first place, the news agencies work round-the-clock. Whereas, a newspaper
may "go to sleep" (go for printing) after midnight or soon afterwards, the news
agencies are SP ding and receiving n w s twenty four hours a day. Thus, its sub-
editors, and reporters, have to be alert all the time.

ii) For the news agencies, it is deadline every-minute. Since a newspaper goes to the
press after midnight, a reporter knows that he has plenty of time to file his report.
But a news agency reporter must file his report immediately, since he may have to
catch a newspaper deadline, in India or abroad, a radio or a television bulle~:~i.And,
, since there is keen cbmpetition, each agency tries to outdo the other, as we have
already seen.

iii) Accuracy and speed being very essential for a news agency, it becomes important
that a news agency report should be crisp, precise, and to-the-point. In fact, news
agencies applv the 'Inverted Triangle' principle. This means that the first paragraph
gives the crux-the main gist-of a news story. The second paragraph will add more
details and the third and subsequent paragraph will give details in order of
diminishing importance. The aim is to answer the five Ws and the one H-what,
where, when, who and why, and how-in the first two or three paragraphs.

iv) Since there is no time for a news agency reporter to confirm or re-confirm facts, it is
important that there is an eye on accuracy. The newspaper reporter gives a report in
the lorning, but h: %thewhole day to correct any mistake. But a news agency
reporter will not get another chance.

You might remember that when the Janata Dal came to power in December, 1989, a
meeting of the party's ~ a r l i i m e n t a rPart-i
~ had unanimously elected Mr. Devi La1 as
the leader. Well, the news agencies imn.~diatelyflashed that Mr. Devi Lal was to be
the next Prime Minister. But you will recall that at the end of his speech. Mr. Devi
Lal had pleadcd that the burden should be placed on younger shoulders and had
proposed Mr. V.P. Singh's name! Thus, you can see how speed can be a boon, as
also a bane.

v) Becausc a news agency's news is considered the last word, it is necessary that every
news itan is auribuied to a source. In other words, every news item has to be qlloted
kom somconc, unlike in a newspaper where a reporter can give histher own version.
- Proper sourcing generally results in truthful reporting. News and Feature Agencies

vi) A news agency is not serving the city in which it works, but the whole nation and
beyond. Therefore, its news will not be purely from a local perspective. What is
more, it will often ignore a purely localised event and will prefer to report something
which will be of interest to readers elsewhere. However, every newspaper devotes
lots of space to local news stories, reporting the events in great detail.

vii) A news agency generally avoids publicity of commercial units. Of course, this is
only a general guideline, and the decision is taken on the merit of each situation. A
newspaper of course may not mind publicising an individual.

viii) A news agency always gives its news without any comment or personal opinion.
Thisis unlike a newspaper which may be permitted not only to give a news item
without a source, but also to put in reasonable comments. Objectivity is the buzz
word for news agencies.

To make you understand the way in which a news agency writes a news item,
compared to how a newspaper does it, here is an example. We give below two styles
of writing the same news :

V.P. Singh is Prime Minister !

"New Delhi, December 10 (UNI) Mr. Vishwanath Pratap Singh was today elected
Prime Minister of the country, after Mr Devi Lal, who had been chosen unanimously
leader of the Janata Dal, proposed Mr. Singh's name as he could not "shoulder such
a heavy. burden."

In the meeting held at the Central Hall of Parliament, Mr. Devi La1 surprised everyone.
by first accepting the honour done to him, and then at the end of a thanks giving
speech, proposing Mr. Singh's name.

Mr. Singh's name came as a surprise to party members,-since it was known that
large sections of the party were opposed to his candidature."

Now we see the same news story as done by a newspaper correspondent : ,

Tau-Ji Does a Double Take

Names V.P. Singh
.,!* *
by Our Staff Correspondent
-
New Delhi, December 10: In what must have come as a surprising master stroke in
politics, the Janata Dal today accepted the Raja of Manda, Mr. Vishwanath Pratap
Singh, as its leader after the Haryana Tau, Mr. Devi La11got himself elected to
avoid possible defeat for Mr. Singh.
As the party wags put it, a caretully conceived plan led to the party unanimously
electing Mr. La1 as ~ t leader.
s But after a thanks giving speech which lasted about
seven minutes and had most members tittering, the Tau did a volte face and said
that his shoulders were too old to take such a heavy burden, and so he wanted to
give the mantle to younger shoulders. He then left party members stupefied by
proposing the name of Mr. Singh, even as Mr. Chandmshekhar looked on, dumb
founded.

Party sources said this could lead to .a fresh fight within the party, and signal the
early end of a g~vernment~which bas just been brought to power,
But the drama enacted on the floors of the Central Hall of Parliament put newspapers,
and especially news agency, reporters iG a fix. In [act, the news agencies had
already announced Mr. Dsvi La1 as the new Prime Minister Wht?n he backed out."

Notice the-difference in style? And see how tht newspaper report is full of comment and
cynicism, whereas the news agency item is a straight forward reporting of events.
 Check Yoar P r o g r e ~3~
Note : i) Answer in two sentences each.

ii) Compare your answqrs with those given at the end of this unit.
1) What is the style of writing adopted in any news agency report ?

2) Which items would make news fpr a local newspaper and yet be of secondary
importance to a news agency ?

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5

3) List the g u d l i n e s to be followed by a news agency reporter when filing a copy.

- - - --- -

Now, we know just about everything that there is to know about Indian agencies. But when
we read our newspapem, we find a mention of 'Reuters', and initials like AFT, AP, UPI, and
ohem. So we must karn how these are operating in India

25.1 Main Agencies Working in India

Before we karn how the foreign news agencies operate in our country, it is necessary to
know which news agencies are still operating in India.
-
Rcuter is a private British news agency named after its founder. Paul Julius Von
Reuter. It was founded in 1851..

Assoc&tcd Pram (AP)is a news agency that was established in New Yo& in 1848.
Age- R@sec(AFP) was established in Paris in 1944.
~kace

United R.crs Intc'rrutionrrl (UPX) was founded in the United States in 1907. It has
been facing financial prbb~emsand so has restricted its operations.
Other agencies working in India include Tam of Russia, DPA of Germany, and the
Italian U S A .
A new entrant is the India Abroad NewrSmice; This is owned by Mr. Gopal Raju, a
non-mident Wian in New York, who brings out a newspaper called 'India Abroad'
fran that city.
2.5.2 How They Operate in the Country
Soon after the country became independent, it was decided that the foreign agencies will not
operate directly in the country: they had to enter into collaboration with Indian agencies as
subscribers. Thus, Indian newspapers get news transmitted by AP or DPA through UNI, and
that transmitted by AFP, Reuters or UP1 through PTI. Similarly, while they do have their
own bureaus here, they depend mostly on the Indian agency they subscribe to and then add
their own background before transmitting any news abroad. However,some news agencies
have now sought permission to operate directly, especially with regard to commercial news,
and this is being considered by the government.

Check Your Progress 4

Note : i) Answer each of the following questions in one sentence each.

ii) Compare your answers with those given at the end of this unit.

1) Name the foreign news agencies that have collaborated with UNI.

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2) Which foreign news agencies have entered into collaboration with F'TI for
transmitting their news items ?

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.
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3) How does a foreign news agency report reach the columns of our newspapers ?

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4) Name an Indian-owned foreign news agency.

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5) Which pla'ce serves as the headquarters for the (a) Agence France Presse (b) F'TI ?

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2.6 FEATURE AGENCIES AND SERVICES

Having learnt a lot about news agencies, it is also important that we know something about
the feature agencies in the country, and how they operate.

2.6.1 Agencies and How They Operate

A feature is something that finds its impact outside or beyond the realm ot Ule straight news
story. It is, thus, not bound by restrictions of time, though it must be topical.

There are numerous feature agencies operating in the country today. The oldest and best
known among them is the Indian News and Feature Alliance (INFA). Others include the
ome~hi~pattems*o*anisatiOnalIndian Ress Agency (PA), Compass Features, Gemini Features, National News Services
structures and management of
mass media in India Newsmen's Features and UFO Features.

These agencies depend solely on free-lance writers. The writers may be aligned to some of
them on a regular basis or work on a piece to piece basis. The agencies then mail these
features to all their clients, thus leaving the clients free to choose. Thus, it may happen that
the same feature may be published by more than one newspaper or magazine. However,
most feature agencies try to avoid selling the same feature to more than one journal in a city.

2.6.2 Syndicated Columnists

Some of the senior-mostjournalists in the country today are so popular that there is a
demand for them from many newspapers. The result is that most newspapers do not mind
publishing the same article provided it can add to their prestige by including the name of the
well known journalist in their columns. Such journalists become syndiiated columnists.
Some well known names in our country are Mr. Kuldip Nayyar, Mr. B.G. Verghese,
Mr. Nikhil Chakravartty, Mrs. Amita Malik, Mr. S. Venkat Narayan, Mr. M.J. Akbar and
Ms. Tavleen Singh.

Check Your Progress 5

Note : i) Answei -. 1 quercion in one or two sentences.

ii) C~lilpaib;.,ur dnswers with those given at the end of this unit. ,, ,

1) &-nocontributes featur~s-to
a feature agency ?

................................... ................................................................................................
....................................................................................................................................
 News and Feature Agencies
2) Who is referred to as a 'Syndicated Columnist' ?

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3) Name 3 feature agencies that operate in India.

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4) Tick (4)the correct answer of the given alternatives.
The Associated Press is :
a) a British agency
b) a Swiss agency
c) an American agency
i

2.7 LET US SUM UP

In this unit, we learnt about Indian news agencies, including their history and development.
We learnt as to how they are different from newspapers. We have also become familiar with
the working of foreign agencies in India. Besides, we have had a glimpse into the world of
feature agencies and syndicated columnists.

A news agency collects and sells news to newspapers. It does not bring out its own
newspaper.

It is vastly different from newspaper in its ownership and its target readership. It also
serves business houses/radio/television.
'rhe government does not own news agencies. Newspapkrs own them collectively.

The news agency owners are also its customers, since the agency serves the
newspapers.

The PTI was born in 1949, and the UNI came in 1961.
The agencies were merged into Samachar six months after Emergency was
promulgated in mid-1975, but split again in 1978 when the Janata Party came to
power.

The UNI and PTI diversified their activities in several ways, including the
establishment of language wings.

The PTI manages the non-aligned news pool on behalf of the government.

Foreign agencies work in India through the UNI and PTI.

Feature agencies work as mailer services.

2.8 GLOSSARY ,
- -

Backgrounder : A document containing the entire background to news.

Bureau : The reporting unit of newspapersfnews agencies comprising Special

Correspondents.

COPY : The news item filed by a reporter.

Desk : The editorial section of a news-paperfnews agency.

File : To send or prepare a report.

Owne+shippatterns,organisational Freelancew Reporters who are not employed by any newspaper or news agency.
structures and management of
mass media in India Goes to Sleep Goes for printing, enabling reportersleditors to take some rest.
Mailers News material sent by post.
News Scan News beamed on a television screen. Non-aligned news pool : A news
pool formed by the non-aligned countries.
Source The person/place from where a news is received or can be attributed
lo.
Stringers Part-time reporters.
Syndicated Writers who send the same article to serveral newspapers/journals.
Columnists
Takes The page of a news report by a news.

2.9 FURTHER READING

1) Raghaven GNS, 1987 PTI Story Published by PTI, New Delhi.

2) Lewis James, 1969 Active Reporter, Press Institute of India, New Delhi.

3) Mankekar D.R., 1978, One Way Freeflow, Published by Clarion Books.

4) Style Book News Agency Pool of Non-Aligned 1995, PTI, News Pool, Unesco.

5) A Manual for News Agency Reporters IIMC, 1980 Published by Allied Publisher Ltd.
- -

2.10
-- CHECK YOUR PROGRESS :MODEL ANSWERS
Check Your Progress 1

1) A news agency does not publish a newspaper to cany its own reports. It sends news
reports to various newspapers and to the radio and television organisations, for the
news to be carried in their newspapers and bulletins. A news agency works round-the-
clock but a newspaper rests aftet midnight once the next day's paper goes to the
printing press. A news agency report is completely factual and identifies the source of
the news item. A newspaper report provides comments on and analysis of the facts
and does not necessarily attribute the news to any source.

2) A news agency is paid by its subscribers for its reports at a rate fixed on the basis of
their respective circulations. Aslo, a monthly rent is collected for the teleprinters and
computers that the news agency installs in the offices of its subscribers. As the
government media of AIR and Doordarshan together with the ministerialsand other
departments, hold the largest share of subscribers, the news agency gets a major part
of its income from government subscriptions. The newspapers and periodicals too
contribute a substantial portion of the news agency's income.

3) A news agency's reporting section is headed by a Chief of Bureau. Staff members

who report on day-to-day matters are called reporters. A Chief reporter heads them
and, in turn, is answerable to the Chief of Bureau. The staff who concentrate on
specialized reporting on ministerial and legislative matters are called Correspondents.
They report directly to the Chief of Bureau.

4) Upon receiving information on the telephone from some source about a fight having
broken out between two communities, a reporter first confirms the event on the phone
with the police station in that zone. He or she then files a short repcrt after
consultation with the Chief Reporter. The typed story is then passed on to the Desk.
The subeditor present edits the story and sends it along to the Editor-in-charge for
final approval. The story is then ready for transmission from the concerned section.
It then reaches the subscfiber. More details may follow after another reporter files
copy after visiting the scene of the event. He or she may either rush back to the office
or mav renort to the office hv tele~hone.
 --
News and

Check Your Progress 2

I) 1-c, 2-d, 3-a, 4-b

11) 1) The Central Government headed by Mrs. Indira Gandhi decided on the merger
so as to make it easy to exercise Press censorship on news items. This move
would take care that no unfavourable news reports would be printed in the
press.

2) i) News Scan : Display of news on the thvlsion screen, just like the teletext
service on Doordarshan.

I ii) Stockscan : A National stock exchange network for display of share prices.

I 3) i)
iii) Science service : Fortnightly mailer on science features.
Backgrounder Service : Weekly printed mailer on different subject of
nation'al interest, always topical.

I ii) UNEN : Weekly mailer on Energy reports.

I iii) U M Graphics : Sent by CourierMail.

4)
property of Associated Press of Indian. Similarly, in 1961, A
When it began its news service in 1949, the PTI took over the usiness and

"inherited" the property left behind by the United Press of India.

II ' iii) I -b, 2-a, 3-c, 4-c

Check Your Progress 3

1) A crisp and precise to the point report is prepared by a news agency. The first
paragraph gives the salient facts. Details come in the subsequent paragraphs. The
thumb-rule is to answer the queries of "5Ws and IH".

2) Local specific events would be projected as important news items in a local

newspaper. A news agency on the other hand would prefer to give the go-by to
localized news in favour of news of national significance.

3) A news agency reporter is required to stick to the standards of impartiality,

objectivity, accuracy, factual information or truth, and proper sourcing. The report
has to be filed with great speed.
I Cheek Your Progress 4

1 2) AFP, Reuters. DPI

3) A report originating from a foreign news agency is distributed to Indian Newspapers

by the Indian News Agencies UNI & PTI.

4) India Abroad News Services, New York, USA. It is owned by Mr. Gopal Raju, a
Non-resident Indian (NRI).
1 5) a) Paris, France,
I b) Bombay, India.
] Check Your Progress 5
1) Free-lance writers contribute their features to a feature agency for distribution by the
agency in the print medium.

2) A syndicated columnist is a senior journalist whose much sought opinions, views and
analyses are distributed by feature agencies. The feature agencies undertake to sell
such articles to one or more newspapers.

1 3) Indian News and Features Alliance, UFO Features. Composs Features.