Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

The Silent Partner: News Agencies And 21st Century News, Jane Johnston, Susan Forde

Jane Johnston

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 …