The Philippine News Agency newsroom in Quezon City (File photo) MANILA - The private news outfit Philippine News Service (PNS) was the country's first news agency, organized on Oct. 1, 1950, but it had to cease operations after martial law was declared. "The Handbook of Journalism" by former Manila Times executive editor Jose Luna Castro said PNS was organized as a news-gathering cooperative by the publishers of the major dailies The Manila Times-Mirror-Taliba, Manila Chronicle, Manila Bulletin, Philippines Herald, Evening News, Bagong Buhay, and Fookien Times. Its main function then was to supply daily news and photos from the provinces to the newspapers. Radio and television stations also used PNS stories for a fixed monthly fee or subscription. Major foreign news agencies, such as the Associated Press (AP), United Press International (UPI), Reuters, and Agence France-Presse (AFP), and a few private entities were among the subscribers. Through the old mail system, using
The Philippine News Agency newsroom in Quezon City (File photo) MANILA - The private news outfit Philippine News Service (PNS) was the country's first news agency, organized on Oct. 1, 1950, but it had to cease operations after martial law was declared. "The Handbook of Journalism" by former Manila Times executive editor Jose Luna Castro said PNS was organized as a news-gathering cooperative by the publishers of the major dailies The Manila Times-Mirror-Taliba, Manila Chronicle, Manila Bulletin, Philippines Herald, Evening News, Bagong Buhay, and Fookien Times. Its main function then was to supply daily news and photos from the provinces to the newspapers. Radio and television stations also used PNS stories for a fixed monthly fee or subscription. Major foreign news agencies, such as the Associated Press (AP), United Press International (UPI), Reuters, and Agence France-Presse (AFP), and a few private entities were among the subscribers. Through the old mail system, using