Home Contact Us Advanced Search Journal Help
IJoC
EDITORIAL BOARD
FOUNDING EDITORS
Editor
Larry Gross
International Journal of Communication|USC Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism
Managing Editor
Arlene Luck
Managing Editor, USC Annenberg Press, University of Southern California
Book Review Editors
Gustavo Cardoso
University of Lisbon
Josh Kun
USC Annenberg School
Jack Linchuan Qiu
Chinese University of Hong Kong
Editorial Board
Sean Aday
George Washington University
Jonathan David Aronson
USC Annenberg School
Sandra Ball-Rokeach
USC Annenberg School
Svetlana Balmaeva
Liberal Arts University
Sarah Banet-Weiser
USC Annenberg School
Howard S. Becker
San Francisco
Yochai Benkler
Harvard Law School
Lance Bennett
University of Washington
Bruce Bimber
UC Santa Barbara
Pablo Javier Boczkowski
Northwestern University
Jennings Bryant
University of Alabama
danah boyd
Microsoft Research
Manuel Castells
USC Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism
Michael X. Delli Carpini
University of Pennsylvania
Susan Douglas
University of Michigan
John D.H. Downing
Southern Illinois University
Stephen Duncombe
New York University
William Dutton
Oxford University
Richard Dyer
University of London
John Nguyet Erni
Lingnan University
Oscar Gandy
Annenberg/ University of Pennsylvania
Dilip Gaonkar
Northwestern University
Ian Glenn
University of Cape Town
Trudy Govier
University of Lethbridge
Sergio Godoy
Universidad Catolica de Chile
Mary L. Gray
Microsoft Research & Indiana University
Larry Grossberg
University of North Carolina
Manuel Alejandro Guerrero
Universidad Iberoamericana
James Hamilton
Duke University
Eszter Hargittai
Northwestern University
John Hartley
Curtin University
Kathleen Hall Jamieson
Annenberg/ University of Pennsylvania
Henry Jenkins
USC Annenberg School
Steve Jones
University of Illinois-Chicago
Elihu Katz
Annenberg/ University of Pennsylvania
Douglas Kellner
UCLA
Marwan M. Kraidy
Annenberg/ University of Pennsylvania
Justin Lewis
Cardiff University
Sonia Livingstone
London School of Economics
Robin Elizabeth Mansell
London School of Economics
Robert McChesney
University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
Toby Miller
UC Riverside
Peter R. Monge
USC Annenberg School
Thomas Nakayama
Northeastern University
Horace Newcomb
University of Georgia
Zhongdang Pan
University of Wisconsin - Madison
Zizi Papacharissi
University of Illinois at Chicago
John Durham Peters
University of Iowa
Alejandro Piscitelli
University of Buenos Aires
Dana Polan
NYU
Marshall Scott Poole
University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
Adam Powell
University of Southern California
Monroe Price
University of Pennsylvania
Janice Radway
Northwestern University
N. Bhaskara Rao
Centre for Media Studies, New Delhi
Michael Renov
USC Cinematic Arts
Eric Rothenbuhler
Webster University
Ellen Seiter
USC Cinematic Arts
Michael Schudson
Columbia University
Jonathan Sterne
McGill University
John Thompson
Cambridge University
Yariv Tsfati
University of Haifa
Ingrid Volkmer
University of Melbourne
Simon J. Wilkie
USC Economics
Barbie Zelizer
Annenberg/ University of Pennsylvania
Yuezhi Zhao
Simon Fraser University

University of Southern California

International Journal of Communication, Vol 5 (2011)

The Silent Partner: News Agencies and 21st Century news

Jane Johnston, Susan Forde

Abstract


This article investigates the ubiquitous presence of news agencies (or wire services) in the daily news. While considering the international environment, it focuses on the sole Australian news agency, Australian Associated Press (AAP), and on its dominance within the Australian news landscape. The article presents the findings of two case studies, tracing press releases through AAP and into the daily news around the world, while also analyzing the media culture that accepts copy from news agencies as “gospel”—a commodity to be used and reused without checking accuracy, and often without attribution. In addition, we identify that the heightened status of news agency copy, coupled with the “not wrong for long” approach which permeates online news, is a combination which increases the potential for error and inaccuracy. The article suggests the need for a shakeup in how media researchers view news sources, as well as a closer analysis of news agency domination within the news environment. Drawing on political economy theory, it sets the foundations for a larger study which could investigate the contemporary production of news.

Full Text: PDF Copyright Notice Privacy Policy University of Southern California USC Annenberg Center