What is a wire service?

• A. A news agency that supplies information via wire
• B. A system of reporting local news
• C. An archive of historical news articles
• D. A communication tool for journalists

Answer: (A)

A wire service refers to a news agency that gathers news and disseminates it to various clients, such as newspapers, broadcasters, and other media outlets, primarily through electronic means. The term "wire" historically originates from the use of telegraph wires to transmit news. Wire services collect news from different areas, covering a wide range of topics, and provide this information to their subscribers quickly, allowing them to have access to current events from around the world without needing to have local correspondents in every location. This arrangement significantly enhances the efficiency and breadth of news reporting, as smaller papers or local news outlets can rely on these services to provide content that they may not be able to cover independently.

The other options highlight activities related to news, but they do not encapsulate the core definition of a wire service. For example, a system of reporting local news focuses more on regional coverage rather than the international scope offered by wire services. An archive of historical news articles pertains to the storage of past news, which is different from the real-time reporting that wire services provide. Lastly, a communication tool for journalists is quite broad and does not specifically relate to the role of a wire service in distributing news content.