Reuters facts for kids
Logo since 2008
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Former Reuters building, London
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| Division | |
| Industry | News agency |
| Founded | October 1851 |
| Founder | Paul Julius Reuter |
| Headquarters | 5 Canada Square, Canary Wharf, London, England |
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Area served
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Worldwide |
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Key people
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Number of employees
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2,500 |
| Parent | Thomson Reuters |
Reuters is a major news agency that belongs to Thomson Reuters Corporation. It has about 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists working in around 200 places worldwide. They write news in 16 different languages. Reuters is known as one of the biggest and most trusted news agencies globally.
The agency was started in London in 1851 by Paul Reuter, who was born in Germany. In 2008, a Canadian company called Thomson Corporation bought Reuters. Now, Reuters is the news part of Thomson Reuters.
Contents
How Reuters Began: A Look at Its History
The Early Years: 1800s
Paul Reuter first worked at a book company in Berlin. He helped share important papers during the Revolutions of 1848. In 1850, Reuter started a simple news service in Aachen. He used homing pigeons and later electric telegraphy to send messages. This helped him send news between Brussels and Aachen starting in 1851.
In 1851, Reuter moved to London and opened his news company at the London Royal Exchange. His company first focused on business news for banks and other companies. The first newspaper to use his service was the London Morning Advertiser in 1858. Soon, many more newspapers joined. Reuters became important because it was often the first to report big international stories. For example, it was the first to report Abraham Lincoln's assassination in Europe in 1865.
In 1865, Reuter made his private business into a company called Reuter's Telegram Company Limited. He became the managing director.
By 1870, Reuters and two other big news agencies, French Havas and German Wolff, made an agreement. They decided on 'reserved territories' where each agency would be in charge of news. Reuters had a lot of influence because its territories were large and important. It also had more staff around the world, which helped it gather more original news. London was a key center for world news because Britain controlled many cable lines.
Reuters grew into the Far East in 1872 and South America in 1874. This growth was possible because of new telegraph and undersea cable technologies. In 1878, Reuter retired, and his oldest son, Herbert de Reuter, took over. By 1883, Reuters began sending news to London newspapers using electricity.
Growing Stronger: The 1900s
Herbert de Reuter continued to lead the company until he passed away in 1915. In 1916, Roderick Jones and Mark Napier bought all the shares. They changed the company's name to "Reuters Limited." In 1923, Reuters started using radio to send news around the world, which was very new at the time.
In 1925, the Press Association (PA) in Great Britain bought most of Reuters. A few years later, they owned the whole company. During the world wars, the British government tried to influence Reuters' reporting. To stay independent, Reuters changed its structure in 1941. The PA then sold half of Reuters to the Newspaper Proprietors' Association. By 1947, newspaper groups from New Zealand and Australia also became co-owners. They created the Reuters Trust to make sure the company stayed independent. At this point, Reuters was a major news agency, providing news and photos to newspapers and TV stations worldwide.
In 1961, Reuters was the first to report on the building of the Berlin Wall. In the 1960s, Reuters was also one of the first news agencies to send financial information across oceans using computers. In 1973, they started showing foreign-exchange rates on computer screens for their clients. Later, Reuters developed services for electronic trading. In 1984, Reuters became a public company, meaning its shares could be bought and sold on stock exchanges like the London Stock Exchange (LSE) and NASDAQ. In 1989, Reuters was again the first to report when the Berlin Wall was opened.
In the 1990s, Reuters was a leading news service on the Internet. They worked with early internet news providers like ClariNet and Pointcast.
Reuters Today: The 2000s
Reuters' share price went up during the dotcom boom but fell after banking problems in 2001. By 2002, most news around the world came from three main agencies: the Associated Press, Reuters, and Agence France-Presse.
Until 2008, Reuters was part of an independent company called Reuters Group plc. Then, Thomson Corporation in Canada bought Reuters, creating Thomson Reuters. In 2009, Thomson Reuters stopped listing its shares on the LSE and NASDAQ. Instead, its shares are now on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) and the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). The last living member of the Reuters founding family, Marguerite, Baroness de Reuter, passed away in 2009. The main company, Thomson Reuters, is based in Toronto. It provides financial information and continues its news agency work.
In 2012, Jim Smith became the CEO of Thomson Reuters. In 2016, Thomson Reuters sold its intellectual property and science business. They also announced expansions and job cuts that year. In 2020, Steve Hasker became the new president and CEO.
In April 2021, Reuters announced that its website would start charging for access, like some other news sites.
In March 2024, Gannett, a large newspaper publisher in the United States, decided to use Reuters' global news content. This happened after they ended their contract with the Associated Press.
In 2024, Reuters staff won two important awards, the Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting and the Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News Photography. They won for their work on Elon Musk's businesses and for covering the Israel–Hamas war.
The Brave Journalists of Reuters
Reuters has about 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists working in many places around the world. Reuters journalists follow special Standards and Values. These rules help them report fairly and accurately. They aim to keep Reuters known for being reliable, accurate, fast, and unique in its news.
Journalists sometimes face dangers while reporting. For example, in May 2000, Kurt Schork, an American reporter, was killed in Sierra Leone. In 2003, news cameramen Taras Protsyuk and Mazen Dana were killed in Iraq. Other Reuters journalists have also been killed while on assignment in different parts of the world, including Adlan Khasanov in Chechnya and Fadel Shana in the Gaza Strip.
In the late 1960s, journalist Anthony Grey was held by the Chinese government for 27 months while covering China's Cultural Revolution. He was later honored for his bravery.
In 2018, two Reuters journalists, Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo, were arrested and found guilty in Myanmar. They were investigating a massacre in a Rohingya village. Many people said this was an attack on press freedom. These journalists won several awards, including the Pulitzer Prize for International Reporting. They were also named part of the Time Person of the Year for 2018. After being in prison for 511 days, they were set free in March 2019.
In February 2023, a team of Reuters journalists won the Selden Ring Award. They won for their investigation into human rights issues by the Nigerian military.
Images for kids
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Taras Protsyuk
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Adlan Khasanov
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Fadel Shana'a
Learn More
In Spanish: Reuters para niños
- List of news agencies
- Media of the United Kingdom
Things Related to Reuters
- Reuters TV
Things Related to Thomson Reuters
- Thomson Reuters Foundation
