EOTO 1: Publications and Institutions: The Associated Press and Reuters

In today's society, there are numerous news sources to choose from. There certainly are sources that are more popular and mainstream than others. For my EOTO, my assignment partner and I decided to do our research on wire service news outlets. They are fairly popular amongst readers and the general public.We focused on The Associated Press and Reuters. 

The Associated Press was founded in the U.S. and Reuters was founded in Europe. These are two wire news services news publications that have been around for a long time and have progressed over time. 

A wire service is a news agency that sends out a news copy to subscribers via wire or satellite transmission. There are many wire services that act as news agencies all around the world. Wire news sources usually have reliable, fact checked information and research. In our EOTO, we focused on two of the most popular -- The Associated Press and Reuters. 

The Associated Press (AP) is a widely used news service in The United States. AP was initially founded in the year of 1846 between five different New York newspapers. AP experienced a huge expansion in 1900 when there were multiple mergers. When it comes to the world of journalism (specifically when it comes to grammar and format) The AP Stylebook is crucially important. 

The first AP Stylebook was created in 1951, but the first public stylebook wasn't released until 1977. The stylebook is updated every two years, and it contains up-to-date grammar rules as well politically correct terms, words and phrases. 

For example, AP style forbids the use of the Oxford comma (which I highly disagree with, by the way), which is a critical rule for journalists to follow. AP employs thousands of reporters which allows a wide spectrum of topics to be covered at once. 

Reuters is also a widely used news service, but it is more popular across the pond. Reuters is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters Corporation. Reuters was founded in 1851 in London and is extremely popular in Europe today. 

Similar to AP, Reuters' writing style is simple and straight to the point. Reuters' headquarters was originally in London, but in 2015 and 2016, Reuters expanded into Canada, and they have a headquarters that currently resides there. 

Reuters is special because it was one of the first news agencies to use computers to transmit data overseas in the 1960s. Also like AP, Reuters employs tons of reporters to be able to cover a lot of ground at one time. 

Wire news services are important because many readers feel as if they are the most reliable, yet timely way to get news. 

They are quick on news updates and often are first to release breaking news. They employ enough reporters to be able to get access to many different stories in different areas. Wire news sources tend to be more trusted and preferred by the public which is something that says a lot for a news source in today's world of misinformation. 

My Top Five News Sources

 As society moves along, our options for absorbing current events become more and more. There are more outlets than ever, and it can be overwhelming trying to find the sources that work the best. When it comes to taking in our news, it's important to be reading from multiple different sources. It has taken me some time to find the sources that I find to be the most efficient. Listed below are my top five news sources...in no particular order.

The Wall Street Journal is a favorite of mine. I like WSJ because the articles are interesting and easy to read. WSJ gives enough information on a wide variety of topics that range from business to entertainment. WSJ is typically a conservative news source, so I do like to get my news from WSJ when looking from the right-winged angle. 

I use WSJ's app on my phone for quick, easy access and notifications of breaking news stories.

Another source that I get some of my news from is Fox News. Admittedly, Fox News runs in my circle of obtaining news due to the fact that it's my family's preferred news outlet. Over time, I've grown to like it as well. 

However, since Fox News tends to leans towards the conservative side, I make it a point to keep in mind that they don't necessarily cover all stories from all angles, and that I need to have a source that covers the other side.

The New York Times is similar to WSJ in that they cover a wide variety of topics and have new articles daily. I also use The New York Times app on my phone for quick access and consistent notifications. 

The New York Times is my preferred source for political news, since they tend to cover lots of politics in and outside of the U.S. The NYT tends to lean more towards the left, which is something I keep in mind when reading news stories -- I also enjoy doing the daily Wordle.

Although I don't necessarily go out out of my way to get my news on social media, Twitter is a common news source that I use. I do actually like getting my news from Twitter, because that way I can see what other people are saying about the topic and it makes it easy to get multiple perspectives on one story.

However, I advise to tread lightly when gathering any current news from social media. It's important to keep in mind that most people who are spreading news on Twitter are likely not trained journalists, and will likely give a biased report without doing their research.

I will admit that I like to keep up with my favorite A-list celebrities. I like to know what's going on with my favorite Food Network superstar chefs...and often the major news outlets don't always cover those people. 

When it comes to entertainment and celebrity news, I typically get my current events and breaking news from People. People is always quick on getting notifications out on breaking news, and I find that People looks into the stories on a much deeper, personal level.