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Wire service

A news agency that produces stories sold to subscribing outlets — Reuters, AP, AFP, Bloomberg.

Wire services prioritize speed, factual accuracy, and minimal interpretive framing because their stories must be usable by hundreds of subscribing outlets with different editorial positions. As local-newsroom layoffs have hollowed out original reporting, wire copy increasingly fills the gap — most regional papers' national and international coverage is wire content with minor edits. Wire services aren't unbiased (they make selection decisions), but they're closer to neutral than most other publication categories. See also: media bias.

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