Think about the well-known names in news media. There is a good possibility that at least one of these names popped into your head: The New York Times, USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Fox, ABC, NBC, and Associated Press. Throughout history, there have been certain news sources that are especially well known and revered, and a lot of them stand the test of time. But, what if, in 30 years, the newest generations have never heard of The New York Times? Weird, I know, but it could happen. That is how I felt when I was asked to do some content research on UPI, a news website I have never even heard of. What I expected to be a fairly simple task, turned out to be a fascinating research project on what was once one of America’s most important and prominent news sources. Interested? Good, because I am here to answer those burning questions.
First of all, what is UPI?
UPI, or United Press International, is an international news agency created in 1907 by E. W. Scripps. Formally United Press, until its merger with the International News Service in 1958, UPI has provided thousands of newspapers, magazines and other media outlets with news material over the last 110 years. In its heyday, the company was one of the largest and most influential new agencies in the U.S. It has even been called “one of the great institutions of American journalism.”
Before we dig into UPI’s historical importance, let’s get some background. What, exactly, is a news agency?
A news agency, also known as a newswire, is an organization or company that collects news and then sells it to newspapers or other news outlets that subscribe to its feed. This may seem counterintuitive, since it is a newspaper’s job to report the news, but most newspapers don’t have the capital or resources to have reporters or bureaus that are outside of the city in which they are based. For example, a newspaper in France may not be able to have a reporter present at the inauguration of the President of the United States, so it subscribes to a news agency that provides them syndicated content written by the agency’s reporter.
Currently, the top news agencies are the Associate Press (AP), Reuters and Agence France-Presse (AFP). Agencies like Reuters and UPI operate by selling the physical news itself, while agencies like AP and AFP work as cooperatives that are essentially owned by the subscriber newspapers and media outlets, which all contribute by submitting their own stories, as well as using materials written by the coop’s staff. This difference in structure can have an impact on how the journalists within the agency report, but we will get into that later.
Now we can get to the good stuff. What is it that makes UPI so important?
When UPI showed up on the media scene, there weren’t a lot of news agencies out there. In fact, the only serious competition in the industry was AP. So while UPI was a scrappy alternative to the well-known and better established AP, it was important for media outlets to have multiple sources for their stories, so many subscribed to both agencies. UPI’s famous slogan, “Get it first, but first, get it RIGHT,” bred multiple generations of notoriously aggressive and competitive journalists known as Unipressers, many of whom went on to win Pulitzer Prizes for their journalism or photography. In fact, 10 UPI employees have received Pulitzers and UPI’s list of notable alumni is a mile long.
One of the most notable, and memorable, reporters to win a Pulitzer from UPI was Merriman Smith. Smith, a legend among Unipressers, was the first person to report the Kennedy Assassination, which he reported just nine minutes after the event took place. An eyewitness, Smith was travelling in the press car with other reporters at the time of the shooting. Smith literally fought the attending AP reporter for the press car’s only phone to call UPI and dictate the story. As the underdog, this was a huge win, and this kind of scrappy initiative was the beating heart of UPI.
It wasn’t just the reporters that made UPI so important, but also what those reporters covered. For example, UPI was instrumental in reporting on the civil rights movement due to its independence. Since AP is owned by the newspapers it services, the papers have some influence over coverage, and this was true during the late 1950s and early 1960s. The Southern-owned newspapers influenced the agency and coverage often slanted or minimized the racial unrest that was brewing, so it was difficult to get a full picture of the movement through AP. UPI didn’t have that problem, as they are not owned by the papers, so reporters were free to cover the news and report on events unbiasedly.
UPI was simply a great source for newspapers, radio and broadcast to get unbiased, fast and reliable news. UPI’s reporters were passionate, dedicated, and covered some of America’s most important events and, in its prime, UPI had over 6,000 subscribing news outlets, thousands of staff and bureaus across the globe.
Where is UPI now?
UPI is still alive and kicking, it’s just not as big as it was before. When newspapers sales took a big dip, most publishers had to choose between AP and UPI, with a majority going to AP. That, paired with some questionable decisions by management, caused UPI to take a huge hit. From the 1980s onward, UPI was sold and resold to different investors and companies until it landed at News World Communications in 2000. UPI is now focusing on more niche markets, especially entertainment, defense, energy, science, health and sports. UPI reporters are still churning out good content, and if you ask nicely, you can request permission to use UPI content and photos on your own site. UPI may not be the powerhouse it once was, but it played an important role in documenting America’s history, and for that it should be remembered.