United Press International

United Press International (UPI) is a global news agency headquartered in the United States filing news in English, Spanish and Arabic. With roots dating back to 1907, it was once one of the three biggest news agencies in the world, with the Associated Press and Reuters, but has dwindled in size and continues to redefine itself. Today, it is owned by News World Communications, which is in turn wholly owned by the Unification Church.

People of UPI

"From its inception, UPI was the underdog, offering young journalists little pay but a lot of opportunity. Time and again, the upstart, pocket-poor wire managed to beat its competition. According to Lucien Carr -- whose pal Jack Kerouac wrote On the Road using a roll of Teletype paper swiped from UPI's office -- "UPI's great virtue was that we were the little guy could screw the AP."

Related Topics:
Lucien Carr - Jack Kerouac - On the Road - Teletype - AP

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News people who worked for UPI are nicknamed "Unipressers." Famous Unipressers from UPI's past include journalists Walter Cronkite, David Brinkley, Howard K. Smith, Eric Sevareid, Vernon Scott, Pye Chamberlayne, Frank Bartholomew, Hugh Baillie, Brit Hume and William L. Shirer, who is best remembered today for writing Rise and Fall of the Third Reich and The New York Times Thomas Friedman.

Related Topics:
Walter Cronkite - David Brinkley - Howard K. Smith - Eric Sevareid - Vernon Scott - Pye Chamberlayne - Frank Bartholomew - Hugh Baillie - Brit Hume - William L. Shirer - The New York Times - Thomas Friedman

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Merriman Smith reported first-hand the deaths of two presidents, being in Warm Springs, Georgia when Franklin D. Roosevelt suffered his fatal stroke, and in Dallas, Texas with John F. Kennedy's motorcade when he was shot. His coverage of the assassination won him the Pulitzer Prize.

Related Topics:
Merriman Smith - Warm Springs, Georgia - Franklin D. Roosevelt - Dallas, Texas - When he was shot - Pulitzer Prize

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Richard Harnett, who spent more than 30 years at UPI, recalls what is often considered its greatest achievement: Merriman Smith's Pulitzer Prize-winning coverage of John F. Kennedy's assassination. "Smith was in the press car....When he heard shots, he called in to the Dallas office and sent a flash bulletin," Harnett says. "The AP reporter started pounding on his shoulder to get to the phone, but Merriman kept it from him." (Quoted - Brill's Content, April 2001)

Related Topics:
Richard Harnett - Merriman Smith - Pulitzer Prize - John F. Kennedy's assassination

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Arnaud de Borchgrave, Newsweeks chief foreign correspondent for 25 years, covering more than 90 countries and 17 wars, is currently UPI Editor-at-Large and began his journalistic career at UPI in 1946.

Related Topics:
Arnaud de Borchgrave - Newsweek

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