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wire service

wire service

13 3.9
A company that collects news and sends it to newspapers or TV stations
  • noun
  • /ˈwaɪər ˈsɜːrvɪs/
  • Literature
translation icon : agencia de noticias
  • He's been offered a job as a full-time freelance reporter for an international wire service starting Dec. 1.
  • newspapers and wire services
  • wire services to supply news
  • wire service story

Look at the sort of standard news reporting wire services, AP and Reuters.

Examples

  • The wire services dispatch the picture and a short accompanying story around the world.

    Fiction book (1997)
  • Soon the wire services picked up on the story.

  • Well, it went out over the wire services.

  • We should be on the wire services.

  • Every wire service in the country's asking the same question.

  • The New York Times carried the initial announcement in an ordinary wire service story, and an abbreviated one at that.

    Academic text (2006)
  • Indeed, as it turned out, wire services all over the country had picked up the story about the twice-stolen statues.

    Fiction book (1998)
  • Within this framework, newspapers became commercial and, in some cases, corporate enterprises, with wire services expanding to meet the needs of newspapers nationwide.

    Academic text (1991)
  • International media, relying heavily on Agence France-Presse and Associated Press wire services, have shown little interest in France's delinquency problem.

    Academic text (2011)
  • The latest news was quickly reported by the wire service to multiple outlets.

Synonyms

news organization
vswire service
  • Literature
69 2.7

A company or group that finds and shares reports about events with the public

focuses more narrowly on supplying news to other media, not public production
news agency
vswire service
  • Literature
29 2.5

An organization that gathers news and sends it to newspapers and TV stations

usually distributes those reports electronically to other media outlets
presswire
vswire service
  • Literature
3 5.6

A service that sends news to newspapers, television, and websites, or a news report sent by it

is an organization that gathers and sends news rather than only distributing notices
press agency
vswire service
  • Literature
1 4.0

A group that collects news and sends it to newspapers, TV, and websites

typically emphasizes electronic delivery rather than only printed distribution
press association
vswire service
  • Literature
1 3.9

An organization that gathers and sends news to newspapers and other media

is the term that highlights this electronic or wire distribution practice

How Wide

syndication
  • Literature
9 5.8
distribution
60 3.2
wire service
  • Literature
13 3.9
publication
127 3.2
placement
62 3.5

Surface Forms

wire service singular
wire services plural

Morphology

wire + service

The meaning can be partially inferred from 'wire' (telegraph/cable message) + 'service' (an organization providing a function) so a learner could guess it denotes a service that sends information via wires — i.e. news distribution. However, the specialized journalistic sense ‘news agency’ and the somewhat archaic/sectoral use of 'wire' are not fully predictable for an average B1 learner, making it only partially transparent.

Etymology

Wire service comes from the days when reporters sent stories over a wire called the telegraph line to a central service that then passed the news to many newspapers. That's why today wire service means a 'news agency' that gathers and sends reports to papers and broadcasters.