ABSTRACT
This chapter briefly considers recent changes in the structure and development of the main news agencies, distinguishing those that have achieved a global presence from those that remain primarily rooted in particular national markets. It then turns to consider the impact of these changes upon the kind of news copy they supply to newspapers. These changes are associated with the growing intensity of pressures to maximise profitability and survive in competitive and globalised information markets. The chapter will focus, in part, upon the Press Association (PA) as a case study. The PA, one of the oldest established national news agencies, has recently responded to contemporary challenges by attempting to diversify its core activities beyond the wholesale supply of news. The implications of these changes pose important questions with regard to the kinds of news the PA, and by implication other similar agencies, supply to newspapers and in terms of the kinds of constraints that journalists have to negotiate as they construct and utilise agency copy.
