Difference between revisions of "Reuters" - New World Encyclopedia

From New World Encyclopedia
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[[Category:Communication]]
 
[[Category:Communication]]
  
'''Reuters Group plc'''  is best known as a [[news agency|news service]] that provides reports from around the world to newspapers and broadcasters. Its main focus, however, is on supplying the [[Financial markets|financial market]]s with information and trading products. These include [[market]] data, such as share prices and currency rates, research and [[analytics]], as well as trading systems that allow dealers to buy and sell such things as currencies and shares on a computer screen instead of by telephone or on a trading floor like that of the [[New York Stock Exchange]]. Among other services, the most notable is analysis of 40,000 [[stock|companies]], [[bond (finance)|debt instruments]], and 3 million economic series. Competitors include [[Bloomberg L.P.]] and [[Dow Jones Newswires]].  
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'''Reuters Group plc'''  is best known as a [[news agency|news service]] that provides reports from around the world to newspapers and broadcasters. It is one of the largest news agencies in the world along with the [[Associated Press|AP]], [[Agence France-Presse]], and [[United Press International|UPI]]. Its main focus, however, is on supplying the [[Financial markets|financial market]]s with information and trading products. These include [[market]] data, such as share prices and currency rates, research and [[analytics]], as well as trading systems that allow dealers to buy and sell such things as currencies and shares on a computer screen instead of by telephone or on a trading floor like that of the [[New York Stock Exchange]]. Among other services, the most notable is analysis of 40,000 [[stock|companies]], [[bond (finance)|debt instruments]], and 3 million economic series. Competitors include [[Bloomberg L.P.]] and [[Dow Jones Newswires]].
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==News Agency==
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Reuters supplies images video, and text to a number of news outlets around the world. Their clients include newspapers, television stations, radio stations, corporations, and bloggers. Their material is used extensively around the world by both major and minor news outlets through an extensive electronic network, in which Reuters was a pioneer. Reuters' global network employs some 16,000 people in 94 countries.<ref>[http://about.reuters.com/aboutus/worldwide.asp Reuters Worldwide.] Reuters. Retrieved April 21, 2007.</ref>
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Reuters' editorial policy is based on a foundation of transparency and a conscious effort to eliminate bias. To further this aim, Reuters attempts to provide balanced portrayals of all sides in the conflicts which it covers. Reuters is not known for any particular political leanings, although as listed below, it has been criticized for a number of missteps.  
  
 
==History==  
 
==History==  
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===Wording===
 
===Wording===
Some accusations of bias concern the use of words such as "militants" or "guerrillas" instead of "terrorists" for groups that deliberately kill civilians in pursuit of political objectives.<ref>[http://www.opinionjournal.com/best/?id=95001205#reuter Best of the Web Today] Wall Street Journal. Retrieved April 10, 2007.</ref>  This is explained as part of a policy of avoiding "the use of emotive terms" as part of a long-standard policy against bias.<ref>[http://about.reuters.com/aboutus/editorial/ Editorial Policy] Reuters. Retrieved April 10, 2007.</ref> Avoiding the word "terrorist" is a policy that Reuters has claimed to have applied for decades, including in the Northern Ireland conflict.  
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Some accusations of bias concern the use of words such as "militants" or "guerrillas" instead of "terrorists" for groups that deliberately kill civilians in pursuit of political objectives.<ref>[http://www.honestreporting.com/articles/critiques/2003_Dishonest_Reporting_-Award-.asp 2003 Dishonest Reporting Awards] Honest Reporting. Retrieved April 21, 2007.</ref><ref>[http://www.danielpipes.org/blog/323 More on "They're Terrorists" - Not Activists.] Daniel Pipes. Retrieved April 21, 2007.</ref>  This is explained as part of a policy of avoiding "the use of emotive terms" as part of a long-standard policy against bias.<ref>[http://about.reuters.com/aboutus/editorial/ Editorial Policy] Reuters. Retrieved April 10, 2007.</ref> Avoiding the word "terrorist" is a policy that Reuters has claimed to have applied for decades, including in the Northern Ireland conflict.  
  
 
This became a point of controversy in September of 2001, regarding their coverage of the [[September 11, 2001 attacks]].  Reuters global news editor Stephen Jukes wrote, "We all know that one man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter and that Reuters upholds the principle that we do not use the word terrorist."  [[The Washington Post]] media critic Howard Kurtz responded, "After the 1995 [[Oklahoma City bombing]], and again after the attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon, Reuters allowed the events to be described as acts of terror.  But as of last week, even that terminology is banned."<ref>[http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn?pagename=article&node=&contentId=A14272-2001Sep23&notFound=true Peter Jennings, in the News for What He Didn't Say] Washington Post. Retrieved April 10, 2007.</ref>  Reuters later apologized for this characterization of their policy.
 
This became a point of controversy in September of 2001, regarding their coverage of the [[September 11, 2001 attacks]].  Reuters global news editor Stephen Jukes wrote, "We all know that one man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter and that Reuters upholds the principle that we do not use the word terrorist."  [[The Washington Post]] media critic Howard Kurtz responded, "After the 1995 [[Oklahoma City bombing]], and again after the attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon, Reuters allowed the events to be described as acts of terror.  But as of last week, even that terminology is banned."<ref>[http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn?pagename=article&node=&contentId=A14272-2001Sep23&notFound=true Peter Jennings, in the News for What He Didn't Say] Washington Post. Retrieved April 10, 2007.</ref>  Reuters later apologized for this characterization of their policy.

Revision as of 17:40, 21 April 2007


Reuters Group plc is best known as a news service that provides reports from around the world to newspapers and broadcasters. It is one of the largest news agencies in the world along with the AP, Agence France-Presse, and UPI. Its main focus, however, is on supplying the financial markets with information and trading products. These include market data, such as share prices and currency rates, research and analytics, as well as trading systems that allow dealers to buy and sell such things as currencies and shares on a computer screen instead of by telephone or on a trading floor like that of the New York Stock Exchange. Among other services, the most notable is analysis of 40,000 companies, debt instruments, and 3 million economic series. Competitors include Bloomberg L.P. and Dow Jones Newswires.

News Agency

Reuters supplies images video, and text to a number of news outlets around the world. Their clients include newspapers, television stations, radio stations, corporations, and bloggers. Their material is used extensively around the world by both major and minor news outlets through an extensive electronic network, in which Reuters was a pioneer. Reuters' global network employs some 16,000 people in 94 countries.[1]

Reuters' editorial policy is based on a foundation of transparency and a conscious effort to eliminate bias. To further this aim, Reuters attempts to provide balanced portrayals of all sides in the conflicts which it covers. Reuters is not known for any particular political leanings, although as listed below, it has been criticized for a number of missteps.

History

Founding

Paul Julius Reuter, born to a rabbi in Kassel, Germany, noticed that, with the electric telegraph, news no longer required days or weeks to travel long distances. In 1850, the 34-year-old Reuter was based in Aachen, Germany, close to the Dutch and Belgian border, and began using the newly opened Berlin–Aachen telegraph line to send news to Berlin. But there was a 76-mile gap in the line between Aachen and Brussels. Reuter spotted the opportunity to speed up news between Brussels and Berlin by using homing pigeons to bridge the gap in the line.

Reuters Data Centre, London.

In 1851, Reuter moved to London as attempts to lay a submarine telegraph cable from Dover to Calais looked to be succeeding, after failures in 1847 and 1850. He set up his "Submarine Telegraph" office in October 1851 just before the opening of the cable in November, and agreed to a contract with the London Stock Exchange to provide stock prices from the continental exchanges in return for access to the London prices, which he supplied to Paris brokers.

In 1865, Reuter's private firm was restructured and became a limited company called Reuter's Telegram Company. Reuter had been naturalised as a British subject in 1857.

Reuter's agency built a reputation in Europe for being the first to report scoops from abroad, like the news of Abraham Lincoln’s assassination.

Modern Day

Reuters was floated as a public company in 1984 on the London Stock Exchange and on NASDAQ in the US. However, there were concerns that the company's tradition for objective reporting might be jeopardised if control of the company later fell into the hands of a single shareholder. To counter this possibility, the constitution of the company at the time of flotation included a rule that no individual was allowed to hold more than 15% of the company. If this limit is exceeded the directors can order the shareholder to reduce the holding to less than 15%. This rule was applied in the late 1980s when Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation, which already held around 15% of Reuters, bought an Australian news company which also had a holding in Reuters. The acquisition meant that Murdoch then held more than 15% and he was obliged to reduce the holding to less than 15% in line with the rules.[2]

At the same time, as a further measure to protect the independence of Reuters news reporting, The Reuters Founders Share Company was set up. This is a company whose sole task is to protect the integrity of the company's news output. It holds one "Founders Share" which can outvote all other shares in the event that an attempt is made to alter any of the rules relating to the Reuters Trust Principles. These principles set out the company's aim to preserve its independence, integrity and freedom from bias in its news reporting.[3]

Reuters began to grow rapidly in the 1980s, widening the range of its business products and expanding its global reporting network for media, financial and economic services. Recent key product launches include Equities 2000 (1987), Dealing 2000-2 (1992), Business Briefing (1994), Reuters Television for the financial markets (1994), 3000 Series (1996) and the Reuters 3000 Xtra service (1999).

In the mid-1990s the company had a brief foray into the radio sector with London Radio's two stations, London News 97.3 FM and London News Talk 1152 AM, which replaced LBC in 1994. A Reuters Radio News service was also set up to compete with Independent Radio News.

In 1995, Reuters established its "Greenhouse Fund" to take minority investments in a range of start-up technology companies, initially in the United States.

Today, almost every major news outlet in the world subscribes to Reuters. It operates in 200 cities in 94 countries, supplying text in 19 languages.

Investments

As mentioned above, news reporting accounts for less than 10% of the company's income.[4] Aside from financial reporting, Reuters is also invested in a number of different fields. Notable investments include:

  • Factiva:

In May 1999, Reuters entered a joint venture with long-time rival, Dow Jones & Company, to form Factiva [1], a business news and information provider.

  • TIBCO Software:

In July 1999 TIBCO completed an IPO on NASDAQ; Reuters retains a substantial proportion of the shares. Reuters announced in early 2000 a range of major initiatives designed to accelerate its use of internet technologies, open new markets and migrate its core business to an internet-based model.

  • Instinet:

In May 2001 Instinet completed an IPO on NASDAQ; Reuters sold its majority stake in Instinet to The Nasdaq Stock Market in 2005.

  • Bridge Information Systems:

On September 28 2001, completed the largest acquisition in its history acquired certain businesses and assets of Bridge Information Systems Inc. Also during the year, the Group acquired 100% of Diagram fip SA and 92% of ProTrader Group LP. In October 2001, the Group disposed of its majority stake in VentureOne Corp.

  • Multex.com Inc.:

In March 2003, Reuters acquired Multex.com, Inc., a provider of global financial information.

  • EcoWin AB:

In November 2005, Reuters acquired also EcoWin AB, Inc., a provider of global fianancial, equities, and economic data.

  • Application Networks:

In June 2006, Reuters acquired Application Networks, Inc., a provider of trade and risk management software based on JRisk.

Main corporate locations

The Reuters Building in Canary Wharf

From 1939, the Reuters corporate headquarters was in London's famous Fleet Street, but in 2005 Reuters moved to a larger building in the more modern Canary Wharf. The Reuters Building is near the One Canada Square tower, Jubilee Park and Canary Wharf tube station. The open space below the Reuters building has since been renamed Reuters Plaza.

Reuters Building at Times Square, Manhattan

The company's North American headquarters is the Reuters Building at 3 Times Square, New York. It is on 7th Avenue between 42nd and 43rd Streets, and was constructed from 1998 to 2001.[5]

Allegations of bias

Anti-Israel

The news organization has been accused of showing an anti-Israel and anti-American bias, by sources such as the National Review and the Wall Street Journal's editorial division.[6]

Wording

Some accusations of bias concern the use of words such as "militants" or "guerrillas" instead of "terrorists" for groups that deliberately kill civilians in pursuit of political objectives.[7][8] This is explained as part of a policy of avoiding "the use of emotive terms" as part of a long-standard policy against bias.[9] Avoiding the word "terrorist" is a policy that Reuters has claimed to have applied for decades, including in the Northern Ireland conflict.

This became a point of controversy in September of 2001, regarding their coverage of the September 11, 2001 attacks. Reuters global news editor Stephen Jukes wrote, "We all know that one man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter and that Reuters upholds the principle that we do not use the word terrorist." The Washington Post media critic Howard Kurtz responded, "After the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing, and again after the attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon, Reuters allowed the events to be described as acts of terror. But as of last week, even that terminology is banned."[10] Reuters later apologized for this characterization of their policy.

The September 20, 2004 edition of the The New York Times reported that Reuters Global Managing Editor, David A. Schlesinger, objected to Canadian newspapers editing Reuters articles through inclusion of the word "terrorist," stating that "my goal is to protect our reporters and protect our editorial integrity."[11]

Due to this policy, Reuters was careful to use the word "terrorist" in quotes. However, when reporting the 7 July 2005 London bombings, the service reported, "Police said they suspected terrorists were behind the bombings." The contrast between this and their aforementioned policy was criticized, although by that point Reuters policy was to use such words "when we are quoting someone directly or in indirect speech," and this headline is an example of the latter.[12][13] The news organization has subsequently used the term "terrorist" without quotations when the article clarifies that it is someone else's words.

Critics say that Reuters' avoidance of such words is selective, reflecting a larger bias against the United States, Israel, and Jews.[14][15][16] Defenders say that the critics are being selective by pointing out only a few of the thousands of news stories Reuters has produced and using them as evidence of a pattern of bias.

Photographs controversies

Reuters was accused of bias against Israel in its coverage of the 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict, in which - among other actions - the company used two doctored photos by a Lebanese freelance photographer Adnan Hajj.[17] On August 7, 2006, Reuters announced it severed all ties with Hajj and claimed his photographs will be removed from it's database.[18] Critics alleged that removing Hajj dealt with only a symptom of much deeper problems at the news organization: bias and widespread use of local freelance photographers, which can result in Reuters inadvertantly acting as a "propaganda outlet."[19]


Notes

  1. Reuters Worldwide. Reuters. Retrieved April 21, 2007.
  2. Reuters: History Reuters. Retrieved April 10, 2007.
  3. Reuters Holdings PLC Reference for Business. Retrieved April 10, 2007.
  4. Company Overview Reuters. Retrieved April 10, 2007.
  5. The Reuters Building Wired New York. Retrieved April 10, 2007.
  6. Opinion Journal Wall Street Journal. Retrieved April 10, 2007.
  7. 2003 Dishonest Reporting Awards Honest Reporting. Retrieved April 21, 2007.
  8. More on "They're Terrorists" - Not Activists. Daniel Pipes. Retrieved April 21, 2007.
  9. Editorial Policy Reuters. Retrieved April 10, 2007.
  10. Peter Jennings, in the News for What He Didn't Say Washington Post. Retrieved April 10, 2007.
  11. Reuters Asks a Chain to Remove Its Bylines New York Times. Retrieved April 10, 2007.
  12. Best of the Web Today Wall Street Journal. Retrieved April 10, 2007.
  13. Editorial Policy Reuters. Retrieved April 10, 2007.
  14. One Secret Service Detail Too Many Washington Post. Retrieved April 10, 2007.
  15. Questionable “Integrity” National Review. Retrieved April 10, 2007.
  16. Best of the Web Today Wall Street Journal. Retrieved April 10, 2007.
  17. Reuters admits altering Beirut photo YNet News. Retrieved April 10, 2007.
  18. Reuters Says Freelancer Manipulated Lebanon Photos PDN Online. Retrieved April 10, 2007.
  19. Best of the Web Today Wall Street Journal. Retrieved April 10, 2007.

References
ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

  • Read, Donald (1992). The Power of News. The History of Reuters 1849-1989. Oxford, Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-821776-5

External links

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