How news agencies work – and why so many reports sound the same

By Omid Jamshidi · Published 19 October 2026 · 5 min read

What news agencies such as AP, Reuters, AFP, dpa or EFE do, how newsrooms use their reports, how to recognise agency copy and why ten articles can still be one source.

If you read the news from several outlets, you will sometimes find almost the same sentences in different places. That is usually no coincidence and no plagiarism: many reports are based on material from news agencies. Agencies are among the most important and least visible parts of journalism. This guide explains what they do, how newsrooms use their work and what that means for you as a reader.

What a news agency is

A news agency – also called a wire service – gathers news and sells it to other media rather than to readers directly. Its customers are newspapers, broadcasters, websites, but also companies, governments and organisations. An agency has reporters, photographers and video journalists in many places and delivers a constant stream of short reports, background pieces, photos, videos and data around the clock.

Few newsrooms can afford correspondents in every country, at every court hearing and every sports match. Agencies fill that gap. Their reports are written to be used by many different customers, so they tend to be factual, compact and neutral in tone.

The best-known agencies

Some agencies operate worldwide, others mainly in one country or language:

• The Associated Press (AP), founded in 1846, is a cooperative owned by American media companies.
• Reuters, founded in London in 1851, is today part of the Canadian company Thomson Reuters and is especially strong in business and financial news.
• Agence France-Presse (AFP), founded in 1944, grew out of the Agence Havas established in 1835; it is based in Paris.
• dpa (Deutsche Presse-Agentur), founded in 1949, is owned by German media companies and is the leading agency in Germany.
• EFE, founded in 1939, is the largest Spanish-language agency and is owned by the Spanish state.

There are also state news agencies that belong directly to a government, such as Xinhua in China or TASS in Russia. In Iran, the official agency IRNA dates back to 1934, and agencies such as ISNA, founded in 1999, also play a large role. State agencies are an important source for what a government says and does, but they are not independent of it – their reports should be read with that in mind.

How newsrooms use agency reports

Newsrooms use agency material in different ways:

• Unchanged: a short report is published as it is, credited to the agency. Many websites publish such reports automatically.
• Edited: the newsroom shortens it, adds a headline of its own or combines reports from several agencies.
• As a starting point: reporters use the agency report as a first alert and then research the story themselves, add their own interviews and context.
• As a check: a newsroom compares its own information with what the agencies report.

That is why the same event often appears within minutes in dozens of outlets – and why the first versions are often very similar.

How to recognise agency copy

Look for the credit. Agency material is usually marked, for example with "(AP)", "Reuters", "AFP" or "dpa" at the start or end of a text, in the byline ("by AP staff") or in a note such as "with material from agencies". In German media you will often see abbreviations such as "dpa/AFP"; Spanish outlets often write "EFE" or "Agencias".

A dateline – the place name at the start of a report, such as "BRUSSELS (Reuters) –" – shows where the report was written. It does not necessarily mean that the outlet you are reading had a reporter there.

Why ten articles can be one source

This is the most important point for readers. When ten websites report the same thing, it looks like broad confirmation. But if all ten are based on the same agency report, there is really only one source. And if that agency report itself quotes a single official statement, the chain is even shorter.

So when you read about an important claim, ask:

1. Does the report name an agency – and if so, which one?
2. Do different outlets add information of their own, such as their own interviews or documents?
3. Do several independent agencies or reporters confirm the same facts?
4. Is the original source – a statement, a court decision, a study – named and accessible?

Our guide How to read the news critically explains these checks in more detail.

Strengths and limits of agencies

Agencies have important strengths. They are fast, present in many places and usually careful: established agencies have strict rules for checking facts, attributing statements and correcting mistakes, because errors are copied by hundreds of customers. Corrections are therefore sent out quickly and clearly marked.

But they also have limits. Speed means that first reports are often incomplete. Because they serve many customers, agency reports rarely go deep or take a clear position. And state agencies follow the line of their government.

Agencies and Omid57.info

Omid57.info does not subscribe to agency services. We show headlines from the public feeds of the outlets listed on each page; some of those outlets publish agency reports themselves, which is why you will sometimes see very similar headlines from different sources. Each headline links to the outlet's own article, where you can see whether it is based on agency material. Which outlets each edition uses is listed in the FAQ, and our guide on why the same story looks different in other languages explains how coverage differs between countries.

Conclusion

News agencies are the invisible foundation of much of the news we read. Knowing how they work helps you understand why reports look alike, how to spot the original source behind many articles and why the number of headlines on a topic says little about how many independent sources stand behind it.