EFE: Spain's World News Agency

(Hardback)

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A concise and authoritative account of the fifty-year history of Spain's state-owned news agency, this book offers an illuminating case study in press-government relations. It chronicles the development of EFE from its founding in 1938-1939, to its emergence in the 1980s as the West's fifth largest news service and the dominant communications giant in the Hispanic world. Kim examines EFE's shifting relations with successive Spanish governments. He describes its activities as a Falangist propaganda agency during the Spanish Civil War and its political functions under the Franco dictatorship during World War II and the postwar period. Changes within the agency during the transition of 1976 to 1982 are discussed, and EFE's impact on the democratization process is given detailed consideration. Among the many topics covered are EFE as a political symbol, censorship, press law, EFE finances and legal status, organizational changes, technical modernization, and relations with other news agencies. The first work to provide a definitive record of La Agencia EFE, this book contains a wealth of information on the political and social history of modern Spain, international journalism, and the modern communications industry.

Reviews

EFE, a state-owned news agency of Spain, began during 1938-39, and is the West's fifth largest news service. Kim provides a compact, authoritative 50-year history of the dominant communications power in the Hispanic world. Kim describes the wire service's changing relationships with different governmental administtrations. He starts with the beginning activities as a Falangist propaganda agency during the Spanish Civil War. He characterises its functions during the dictatorship of Franco in World War II and the post-war era and the later period under the socialist regime. The author covers such subjects as EFE as a political symbol, censorship, its relation to press law, its finances, legal status, organisational changes, technical modernisation, and relatons with other news agencies. The book is an important contribution to international journalism.-Media Development
Spain's World News Agency details the half century of the state-owned agency. A Korean scholar now at Towson State University (Maryland), Kim tells his story in chronological fashion from EFE's founding toward the end of the Spanish Civil War in 1938-39 to the present. Among topics discussed in the eight chapters, each covering a specific period, are the relations of the agency to varied Spanish governments, censorship and press law, finances, technical modernization, and relations with other news agencies. EFE is the fifth largest news agency in the West, and the most important in the Hispanic countries.-Communication Booknotes
The author, a journalism professor at Towson State, describes the background of the Spanish news agency, which originated in the 1930s under the Franco regime and is now the West's fifth largest news service and the dominant communications network in Spanish-speaking countries.-Booknotes
"Spain's World News Agency details the half century of the state-owned agency. A Korean scholar now at Towson State University (Maryland), Kim tells his story in chronological fashion from EFE's founding toward the end of the Spanish Civil War in 1938-39 to the present. Among topics discussed in the eight chapters, each covering a specific period, are the relations of the agency to varied Spanish governments, censorship and press law, finances, technical modernization, and relations with other news agencies. EFE is the fifth largest news agency in the West, and the most important in the Hispanic countries."-Communication Booknotes
"The author, a journalism professor at Towson State, describes the background of the Spanish news agency, which originated in the 1930s under the Franco regime and is now the West's fifth largest news service and the dominant communications network in Spanish-speaking countries."-Booknotes
"EFE, a state-owned news agency of Spain, began during 1938-39, and is the West's fifth largest news service. Kim provides a compact, authoritative 50-year history of the dominant communications power in the Hispanic world. Kim describes the wire service's changing relationships with different governmental administtrations. He starts with the beginning activities as a Falangist propaganda agency during the Spanish Civil War. He characterises its functions during the dictatorship of Franco in World War II and the post-war era and the later period under the socialist regime. The author covers such subjects as EFE as a political symbol, censorship, its relation to press law, its finances, legal status, organisational changes, technical modernisation, and relatons with other news agencies. The book is an important contribution to international journalism."-Media Development

Author Bio

SOON JIN KIM is a journalism professor at Towson State University. He has been active as a journalist and a teacher of journalism in Korea, El Salvador, and Guatemala as well as in the United States. He has received numerous honors and awards in the field.