This
study by Swiss Propaganda Research was first published in 2016, it is
presented by
off-guardian.org
in English for the first time. Translated by Terje Maloy.
It
is one of the most important aspects of our media system – and yet
hardly known to the public: most of the international news coverage
in Western media is provided by only three global news agencies based
in New York, London and Paris.
The
key role played by these agencies means that Western media often
report on the same topics, even using the same wording. In addition,
governments, military and intelligence services use these global news
agencies as multipliers to spread their messages around the world.
A
study of the Syria war coverage by nine leading European newspapers
clearly illustrates these issues: 78% of all articles were based in
whole or in part on agency reports, yet
0% on investigative research.
Moreover, 82% of all opinion pieces and interviews were in favor of
the US and NATO intervention, while propaganda was attributed
exclusively to the opposite side.
Part
1 - Introduction: “Something strange”
“How
does the newspaper know what it knows?” The answer to this
question is likely to surprise some newspaper readers:
“The
main source of information is stories from news agencies. The almost
anonymously operating news agencies are in a way the key to world
events. So what are the names of these agencies, how do they work and
who finances them? To judge how well one is informed about events in
East and West, one should know the answers to these questions.”
A Swiss
media researcher points out:
“The
news agencies are the most important suppliers of material to mass
media. No daily media outlet can manage without them….So the news
agencies influence our image of the world; above all, we get to know
what they have selected.”
In view
of their essential importance, it is all the more astonishing that
these agencies are hardly known to the public:
“A
large part of society is unaware that news agencies exist at all …
In fact, they play an enormously important role in the media market.
But despite this great importance, little attention has been paid to
them in the past.”
Even the
head of a news agency noted:
“There
is something strange about news agencies. They are little known to
the public. Unlike a newspaper, their activity is not so much in the
spotlight, yet they can always be found at the source of
the story.”
Further
info, references, sources:
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