Friday, May 03, 2013
IRNA: Iran’s Islamic Republic News Agency started out as the Pars Agency in 1934 but was renamed following the 1979 Islamic Revolution. The agency is fully funded and controlled by the Iranian government, and so IRNA works towards securing the government’s national interests.
Xinhua: The Xinhua news agency is the largest in China. Originally founded in 1931, today it reports to the Communist Party of China’s Propaganda and Public Information Departments. In fact, when the Communists first took over China, the agency acted as the government’s representative in places without diplomatic relations to China. Another news agency, the China News Service, is also controlled by the government and targets Chinese residents overseas.
Myanmar News Agency: Founded in 1953, the Myanmar News Agency operates under the country’s ministry of information and is the only news outlet with the right to take photos of government events, making other media reliant on the agency for photos.
Prensa Latina: Prensa Latina is Cuba’s official news agency, founded in 1959 to provide an alternative to news largely coming from the United States. However, employees of the agency abroad have been known to have links to Cuba’s intelligence agency, and some have been arrested for spying in places such as Canada, Jamaica and Peru.
By Nadia Eldemerdash, Web Producer
Gulf News 2013. All rights reserved.
