Reuters: Difference between revisions

| image_caption = Reuters Building, Canary Wharf, [[London]]

| location = [[Canary Wharf]], [[London]], England, United Kingdom

| operating_income =

| subsid =  

}}[[File:Reuter, Paul Julius von, Nadar, Gallica.jpg|thumb|[[Paul Reuter]], the founder of Reuters (photographed by [[Nadar (photographer)|Nadar]], c. 1865)]]

'''Reuters''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|r|ɔɪ|t|ə|z|audio=Reuters (spoken word).ogg}}) is an international [[news organisation]] owned by [[Thomson Reuters]].<ref>{{cite web|title=About us|url=https://agency.reuters.com/en/about-us.html|access-date=14 January 2019|website=Reuters}}</ref> It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 [[photojournalist]]s in about 200 locations worldwide.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|title=Home - Reuters News - The Real World in Real Time|url=https://www.reutersagency.com/en/|access-date=13 December 2020|website=Reuters News Agency|language=en-US}}</ref><ref name=":0" /> Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world.<ref name="britannica-two" />

The agency was established in [[London]] in 1851 by the German-born [[Paul Reuter]]. It was acquired by the [[Thomson Corporation]] in 2008 and now makes up the media division of Thomson Reuters.

In 1872, Reuter's expanded into the [[Far East]], followed by [[South America]] in 1874. Both expansions were made possible by advances in overland telegraphs and undersea cables.<ref name=guardian/> In 1878, Reuter retired as managing director, and was succeeded by his eldest son, [[Herbert de Reuter]].<ref name="funding-universe" /> In 1883, Reuter's began transmitting messages electrically to London newspapers.<ref name=guardian/>

Reuter's son [[Herbert de Reuter]] continued as general manager until his death by suicide in 1915. The company returned to private ownership in 1916, when all shares were purchased by [[Roderick Jones (1877–1962)|Roderick Jones]] and Mark Napier; they renamed the company "Reuters Limited", dropping the apostrophe.<ref name="funding-universe" /> In 1923, Reuters began using radio to transmit news internationally, a pioneering act.<ref name=guardian/> In 1925, the [[Press Association]] (PA) of [[Great Britain]] acquired a majority interest in Reuters, and full ownership some years later.<ref name=britannica-r/> During the world wars, ''[[The Guardian]]'' reported that Reuters: "came under pressure from the British government to serve national interests. In 1941 Reuters deflected the pressure by restructuring itself as a private company." In 1945 Reuters was the first broadcasting company to broadcast news of [[Heinrich Himmler]]'s attempts to negotiate with the western allies through [[Count Bernadotte]], a Swedish nobleman. The new owners formed the Reuters Trust.<ref name=guardian/> In 1941, the PA sold half of Reuters to the Newspaper Proprietors' Association, and co-ownership was expanded in 1947 to associations that represented daily newspapers in [[New Zealand]] and [[Australia]].<ref name=britannica-r/> The Reuters Trust Principles were put in place to maintain the company's independence.<ref name=aboutus>{{cite web |url=http://thomsonreuters.com/about-us/company-history/ |title=Company History |publisher=Thomson Reuters |date=13 December 2013 |access-date=7 May 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140503234856/http://thomsonreuters.com/about-us/company-history/ |archive-date=3 May 2014 |url-status=dead }}</ref> At that point, Reuters had become "one of the world's major news agencies, supplying both text and images to newspapers, other news agencies, and radio and television broadcasters."<ref name=britannica-r/> Also at that point, it directly or through national news agencies provided service "to most countries, reaching virtually all the world's leading newspapers and many thousands of smaller ones," according to ''Britannica''.<ref name=britannica-r/>

Reuters' share price grew during the [[dotcom boom]], then fell after the banking troubles in 2001.<ref name=guardian/> In 2002, ''Britannica'' wrote that most news throughout the world came from three major agencies: the [[Associated Press]], Reuters, and [[Agence France-Presse]].<ref name=britannica-two>{{cite encyclopedia|url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/news-agency#ref203528|title=News agency|encyclopedia=[[Encyclopædia Britannica]]|date=23 August 2002|access-date=18 February 2017}}</ref>  

Until 2008, the Reuters news agency formed part of an independent company, [[Reuters Group|Reuters Group plc]]. Reuters merged with [[Thomson Corporation]] in Canada in 2008, forming Thomson Reuters.<ref name="britannica-r" /> In 2009, Thomson Reuters withdrew from the LSE and the NASDAQ, instead listing its shares on the [[Toronto Stock Exchange]] (TSX) and the [[New York Stock Exchange]] (NYSE).<ref name="britannica-r" /> The last surviving member of the Reuters family founders, [[Marguerite, Baroness de Reuter]], died at age 96 on 25 January 2009.<ref name="abc">{{cite news|url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2009-01-26/baroness-de-reuter-last-link-to-news-dynasty-dies/2586782|title=Baroness de Reuter, last link to news dynasty, dies|date=26 January 2009|work=[[ABC News (Australia)|ABC News]]|access-date=21 February 2009|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180627034038/https://www.abc.net.au/news/2009-01-26/baroness-de-reuter-last-link-to-news-dynasty-dies/2586782|archive-date=27 June 2018|publisher=[[Australian Broadcasting Corporation]]|agency=Reuters}}</ref> The parent company Thomson Reuters is headquartered in [[Toronto]], and provides financial information to clients while also maintaining its traditional news-agency business.<ref name="britannica-r" />

In 2012, Thomson Reuters appointed Jim Smith as CEO.<ref name=aboutus/> In July 2016, Thomson Reuters agreed to sell its intellectual property and science operation for $3.55&nbsp;billion to private equity firms.<ref name=bloomberg-cut/> In October 2016, Thomson Reuters announced expansions and relocations to [[Toronto]].<ref name=bloomberg-cut/> As part of cuts and restructuring, in November 2016, Thomson Reuters Corp. eliminated 2,000 worldwide jobs out of its around 50,000 employees.<ref name="bloomberg-cut">{{cite news|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-11-01/thomson-reuters-earnings-top-estimates-on-growth-in-americas|title=Thomson Reuters Cuts 2,000 Jobs Worldwide in Restructuring|last=Smith|first=Gerry|date=1 November 2016|access-date=6 February 2018|agency=[[Bloomberg News]]|url-access=limited}}</ref>

Reuters employs some 2,500 journalists and 600 [[photojournalist]]s<ref>{{Cite web|title=Pictures|url=https://www.reutersagency.com/en/content-types/pictures/|access-date=2020-12-17|website=Reuters News Agency}}</ref> in about 200 locations worldwide.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":0">{{cite web |url=https://www.reuters.tv/careers |title=Careers|website=www.reuters.tv|access-date=14 January 2019}}</ref> Reuters journalists use the ''Reuters Handbook of Journalism'' as a guide for fair presentation and disclosure of relevant interests, to "maintain the values of integrity and freedom upon which their reputation for reliability, accuracy, speed and exclusivity relies".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://handbook.reuters.com/index.php?title=Main_Page |title=Main Page - Handbook of Journalism |publisher=Handbook.reuters.com |date=23 September 2014 |access-date=17 June 2015}}</ref>

In May 2000, [[Kurt Schork]], an American [[reporter]], was killed in an [[ambush]] while on assignment in [[Sierra Leone]]. In April and August 2003, news cameramen [[Taras Protsyuk]] and [[Mazen Dana]] were killed in separate incidents by U.S. troops in [[Iraq]]. In July 2007, [[Namir Noor-Eldeen]] and [[Saeed Chmagh]] were killed when they were struck by fire from a U.S. military Apache helicopter in Baghdad.<ref name="Bumiller0405">{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/06/world/middleeast/06baghdad.html|title=Video Shows U.S. Killing of Reuters Employees|last=Bumiller|first=Elisabeth|date=5 April 2010|work=[[The New York Times]]|access-date=24 August 2015|url-status=live|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120909073632/http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/06/world/middleeast/06baghdad.html?_r=1|archive-date=9 September 2012|author-link=Elisabeth Bumiller}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5rXPrfnU3G0 |title=Collateral Murder - Wikileaks - Iraq |publisher=YouTube |date=3 April 2010 |access-date=17 June 2015}}</ref> During 2004, [[cameramen]] [[Adlan Khasanov]] was killed by [[Chechnya|Chechen]] separatists, and Dhia Najim was killed in [[Iraq]]. In April 2008, [[cameraman]] [[Fadel Shana]] was killed in the [[Gaza Strip]] after being hit by an [[Israel]]i [[tank]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-palestinians-israel-gaza-reuters-idUSL1632826120080416|title=Reuters cameraman killed in Gaza|last=Al-Mughrabi|first=Nidal|date=16 April 2008|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180704041552/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-palestinians-israel-gaza-reuters-idUSL1632826120080416|archive-date=4 July 2018|work=Reuters}}</ref>

While covering China's [[Cultural Revolution]] in [[Peking]] in the late 1960s for Reuters, journalist [[Anthony Grey]] was detained by the Chinese government in response to the jailing of several Chinese journalists by the colonial British government of [[Hong Kong]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,844706,00.html|title=Foreign Correspondents: The Tiny World of Anthony Grey|date=20 December 1968|work=[[Time (magazine)|Time]]|access-date=22 May 2010|url-access=subscription}}</ref> He was released after being imprisoned for 27 months from 1967 to 1969 and was awarded an [[Order of the British Empire|OBE]] by the British Government. After his release, he went on to become a best-selling historical novelist.

| [[Hos Maina]] || Kenyan || Somalia || {{dts|12 July 1993}}

| [[Dan Eldon]] || Kenyan || Somalia || {{dts|12 July 1993}}

| [[Kurt Schork]] || American || Sierra Leone || {{dts|24 May 2000}}

| [[Taras Protsyuk]] || Ukrainian || Iraq || {{dts|8 April 2003}}

| [[Mazen Dana]] || Palestinian || Iraq || {{dts|17 August 2003}}

| [[Adlan Khasanov]] || Russian || Chechnya || {{dts|9 May 2004}}

| [[Waleed Khaled]] || Iraqi || Iraq || {{dts|28 August 2005}}

| [[Namir Noor-Eldeen]] || Iraqi || Iraq || {{dts|12 July 2007}}

<ref name="Tyson">{{Cite news|url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/09/14/AR2009091403262.html|title=Military's Killing of 2 Journalists in Iraq Detailed in New Book|last=Tyson|first=Ann Scott|date=15 September 2009|work=[[The Washington Post]]|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170827064816/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/09/14/AR2009091403262.html|archive-date=27 August 2017|page=7}}</ref>

| [[Saeed Chmagh]] || Iraqi || Iraq || {{dts|12 July 2007}}<ref name="Tyson"/>

| [[Fadel Shana'a]] || Palestinian || Gaza Strip || {{dts|16 April 2008}}

| [[Hiro Muramoto]] || Japanese || Thailand || {{dts|10 April 2010}}

| [[Molhem Barakat]] || Syrian || Syria || {{dts|20 December 2013}}

| [[Danish Siddiqui]] || Indian || Afghanistan ||{{dts|16 July 2021}}

In October 1977, ''[[Rolling Stone]]'' published an article by journalist [[Carl Bernstein]], in which the author wrote that, according to information from [[Central Intelligence Agency|CIA]] officials, Reuters cooperated with the Agency.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2010-06-24|title=Rolling Stone's Biggest Scoops, Exposés and Controversies|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-lists/rolling-stones-biggest-scoops-exposes-and-controversies-10596/journalists-exposed-as-secret-cia-operatives-30558/|access-date=2020-12-13|website=Rolling Stone}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Bernstein|first=Carl|title=The CIA and the Media|url=http://www.carlbernstein.com/magazine_cia_and_media.php|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200408030842/http://www.carlbernstein.com/magazine_cia_and_media.php|archive-date=2020-04-08|access-date=2020-11-15|website=www.carlbernstein.com}}</ref> In response to that, Reuters' then managing director, Gerald Long, had asked for evidence of the charges, but none was provided.<ref>{{Cite news|date=26 December 1977|title=Worldwide Propaganda Network Built by the C.I.A. (Published 1977)|work=[[The New York Times]]|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1977/12/26/archives/worldwide-propaganda-network-built-by-the-cia-a-worldwide-network.html|access-date=13 December 2020|issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

Reuters has a policy of taking a "value-neutral approach" which extends to not using the word ''terrorist'' in its stories. The practice attracted criticism following the [[September 11 attacks]].<ref name="Moeller">{{Cite book|last=Moeller|first=Susan D.|title=Reporting War: Journalism in Wartime|publisher=Routledge|year=2004|isbn=978-0415339988|editor-last=Allan|editor-first=Stuart|pages=[https://archive.org/details/reportingwarjour0000unse/page/68 68]|chapter=A Moral Imagination: The Media's Response to the War on Terrorism|editor-last2=Zelizer|editor-first2=Barbie|chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/reportingwarjour0000unse/page/68}}</ref> Reuters' editorial policy states: "Reuters may refer without attribution to terrorism and counterterrorism in general, but do not refer to specific events as terrorism. Nor does Reuters use the word ''terrorist'' without attribution to qualify specific individuals, groups or events."<ref>''The Reuters Style Guide'' {{cite web|title=Terrorism, terrorist - Handbook of Journalism|url=http://handbook.reuters.com/index.php?title=T#terrorism.2C_terrorist|access-date=21 May 2019|publisher=Reuters}}.</ref> By contrast, the [[Associated Press]] does use the term ''terrorist'' [[Definition of terrorism|in reference to]] non-governmental organizations who carry out attacks on civilian populations.<ref name="Moeller" /> In 2004, Reuters asked a Canadian newspaper chain to remove Reuters' [[byline]]s, as the Canadian newspaper had edited Reuters articles to insert the word ''terrorist''. A spokesman for Reuters stated: "My goal is to protect my reporters and protect our editorial integrity."<ref>{{cite news|last=Austen|first=Ian|date=20 September 2004|title=Reuters Asks a Chain to Remove Its Bylines|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/20/business/media/reuters-asks-a-chain-to-remove-its-bylines.html|url-status=live|archive-url=https://archive.today/20191014063424/https://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/20/business/media/reuters-asks-a-chain-to-remove-its-bylines.html|archive-date=14 October 2019}}</ref>

Subsequently, climate blogger [[Joseph J. Romm|Joe Romm]] cited a Reuters article on climate as employing "[[false balance]]", and quoted Dr. Stefan Rahmstorf, Co-Chair of Earth System Analysis at the [[Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research|Potsdam Institute]] that "[s]imply, a lot of unrelated climate skeptics nonsense has been added to this Reuters piece. In the words of the late Steve Schneider, this is like adding some nonsense from the [[International Flat Earth Research Society|Flat Earth Society]] to a report about the latest generation of telecommunication satellites. It is absurd." Romm opined: "We can't know for certain who insisted on cramming this absurd and non-germane 'climate sceptics nonsense' into the piece, but we have a strong clue. If it had been part of the reporter's original reporting, you would have expected direct quotes from actual skeptics, because that is journalism 101. The fact that the blather was all inserted without attribution suggests it was added at the insistence of an editor."<ref>{{cite news|last=Romm|first=Joe|date=21 July 2013|title=False Balance Lives At Reuters: Climatologist Slams 'Absurd' Use of 'Unrelated Climate Skeptics Nonsense'|work=[[ThinkProgress]]|url=https://thinkprogress.org/false-balance-lives-at-reuters-climatologist-slams-absurd-use-of-unrelated-climate-skeptics-nonsense-1974f293eb77/|url-status=live|access-date=17 June 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190618073048/https://thinkprogress.org/false-balance-lives-at-reuters-climatologist-slams-absurd-use-of-unrelated-climate-skeptics-nonsense-1974f293eb77/|archive-date=18 June 2019}}</ref>

According to [[Ynetnews]], Reuters was accused of bias against Israel in its coverage of the [[2006 Israel–Lebanon conflict]] after the wire service [[Adnan Hajj photographs controversy|used two doctored photos]] by a [[Lebanon|Lebanese]] freelance photographer, Adnan Hajj.<ref>{{cite news|last=Lappin|first=Yaakov|date=6 August 2006|title=Reuters admits altering Beirut photo|publisher=[[Ynetnews]]|url=https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3286966,00.html|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190322144849/https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3286966,00.html|archive-date=22 March 2019}}</ref> In August 2006, Reuters announced it had severed all ties with Hajj and said his photographs would be removed from its database.<ref>{{cite news|date=7 January 2007|title=Reuters toughens rules after altered photo affair Photos|work=Reuters|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSL18678707|url-status=live|access-date=15 August 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160125013009/https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSL18678707|archive-date=25 January 2016}}</ref>

===Accusations of pro-Fernando Henrique Cardoso bias===

In March 2015, the Brazilian affiliate of Reuters released a text containing an interview with Brazilian ex-president [[Fernando Henrique Cardoso]] about the ongoing [[Operação Lava Jato|Petrobras scandal]]. Petrobras is a state owned oil company in Brazil. In 2014, it was discovered that many politicians of Brazil were involved in corruption due to giving contracts of the company to different corporations for exchange of money. After this scandal, a text was released which contains Brazil's former president Fernando Henrique's interview.   

One of the paragraphs mentioned a comment by a former Petrobras manager, in which he suggests corruption in that company may date back to Cardoso's presidency. Attached to it, there was a comment between parenthesis: "{{lang|pt|Podemos tirar se achar melhor}}" ("we can take it out if [you] think better"),<ref>{{cite news|date=25 March 2015|title=Para blindar FHC, 'Reuters' propõe em matéria: 'podemos tirar se achar melhor'|language=pt|trans-title=To protect FHC, 'Reuters' proposes in matter: 'we can take it off if you think it's better'.|work=[[Jornal do Brasil]]|url=http://www.jb.com.br/pais/noticias/2015/03/24/para-blindar-fhc-reuters-propoe-em-materia-podemos-tirar-se-achar-melhor/|url-status=dead|access-date=25 March 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171011132452/http://www.jb.com.br/pais/noticias/2015/03/24/para-blindar-fhc-reuters-propoe-em-materia-podemos-tirar-se-achar-melhor/|archive-date=11 October 2017}}</ref> which is now absent from the current version of the text.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Winter|first1=Brian|date=23 March 2015|title=Entrevista-FHC diz que Lula tem mais responsabilidade política em caso Petrobras do que Dilma|language=pt|trans-title=ENTREVISTA-FHC says Lula has more political responsibility in Petrobras case than Dilma|agency=Reuters Brasil|url=https://br.reuters.com/article/topNews/idBRKBN0MJ2B120150323|url-status=dead|access-date=25 March 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181106150147/http://br.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idBRKBN0MJ2B120150323|archive-date=6 November 2018}}</ref> It suggests that former president was involved in corruption and he wants them to cut out that text. The agency later issued a text in which they confirm the mistake, explaining it was a question by one of the Brazilian editors to the journalist who wrote the original text in English, and that it was not supposed to be published.<ref>{{cite news|date=24 March 2015|title=Podemos tirar, se achar melhor|language=pt|trans-title="We can take it off, if you think it's better"|work=[[CartaCapital]]|publisher=Editora Confiança|url=https://www.cartacapital.com.br/blogs/midiatico/podemos-tirar-se-achar-melhor-podemos-2154/|url-status=live|access-date=24 March 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190619213112/https://www.cartacapital.com.br/blogs/midiatico/podemos-tirar-se-achar-melhor-podemos-2154/|archive-date=19 June 2019}}</ref>

In November 2019 the [[Foreign and Commonwealth Office|UK Foreign Office]] released archive documents confirming that it had provided funding to Reuters during the 1960s and 1970s so that Reuters could expand its coverage in the Middle East. An agreement was made between the [[Information Research Department|Information Research Department (IRD)]] and Reuters for the [[HM Treasury|UK Treasury]] to provide £350,000 over 4 years to fund Reuters' expansion. The UK government had already been funding the Latin American department of Reuters through a shell company; however, this method was discounted for the Middle East operation due to the accounting of the shell company looking suspicious, with the IRD stating that the company "already looks queer to anyone who might wish to investigate why such an inactive and unprofitable company continues to run."<ref name="BBC13012020">{{cite news|last=Rosenbaum|first=Martin|date=13 January 2020|title=How the UK secretly funded a Middle East news agency|publisher=[[BBC]]|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-50637200|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200114084803/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-50637200|archive-date=14 January 2020}}</ref> Instead, the [[BBC]] was used to fund the project by paying for enhanced subscriptions to the news organisation, for which the Treasury would reimburse the BBC at a later date. The IRD acknowledged that this agreement would not give them editorial control over Reuters, although the IRD believed it would give them political influence over Reuters' work, stating "this influence would flow, at the top level, from Reuters' willingness to consult and to listen to views expressed on the results of its work.”<ref name="BBC13012020" /><ref>{{cite news|last=Faulconbridge|first=Guy|others=Nick Tattersall (ed.)|date=13 January 2020|title=Britain secretly funded Reuters in 1960s and 1970s - documents|work=Reuters|editor-last=Bendeich|editor-first=Mark|url=https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-britain-media/britain-secretly-funded-reuters-in-1960s-and-1970s-documents-idUKKBN1ZC20F|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200114124853/https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-britain-media/britain-secretly-funded-reuters-in-1960s-and-1970s-documents-idUKKBN1ZC20F|archive-date=14 January 2020}}</ref>

* {{cite book|author=Fenby, Jonathan|title=The International News Services|date=12 February 1986|publisher=Schocken Books|isbn=0-8052-3995-2|page=[https://archive.org/details/internationalnew00fenb/page/275 275]|url=https://archive.org/details/internationalnew00fenb/page/275}}

* {{cite book|author=Schwarzlose, Richard|title=Nation's Newsbrokers Volume 1: The Formative Years: From Pretelegraph to 1865|date=1 January 1989|publisher=Northwestern University Press|isbn=0-8101-0818-6|page=370}}

* {{cite book|author=Schwarzlose, Richard|title=Nation's Newsbrokers Volume 2: The Rush to Institution: From 1865 to 1920|date=1 February 1990|publisher=Northwestern University Press|isbn=0-8101-0819-4|page=[https://archive.org/details/nationsnewsbroke00schw/page/366 366]|url=https://archive.org/details/nationsnewsbroke00schw/page/366}}

* {{cite book|author=Schwarzlose, Richard|title=The American Wire Services|date=June 1979|publisher=Ayer Co Pub|isbn=0-405-11774-4|page=453}}