Information Policy as Competitiveness Increase Factor of the Spanish Agency EFE

Abstract

In 1867, the first semblance of information agency (IA) founded by Catalan journalist and entrepreneur Nilo Maria Fabra y Deas appeared in Spain. The first information service (servicio de información) was opened in 1865 in Madrid and was called "Centro de Corresponsales" (Correspondents Center). At the beginning of the twentieth century, IA Fabra had about 40 subscribers and five daily newspapers, and government agencies, for example, the Bank of Spain and personally Queen Maria Cristina were among the subscribers. The only difficulty the Fabra news agency faced was absolute dependence on the Havas agency, which required the Spanish news agency to publish some news that went against the opinion of the Spanish state and residents. Gradually, a conflict between the two agencies began to develop, which peaked during the French military campaign in North Africa. Havas required Fabra to cover the events in favor of France. Realizing the impossibility of obeying the rules of the Havas game, Spanish journalists create a new news agencies: Febus, Spec, Ibérica and España-América. The birth of new agencies has given the news stream in Spanish more variety and truthfulness. It is from the moment of the creation of the listed IA that the idea and, mainly, the necessity to enter the international arena arises. Thus, the first Spanish-language EFE news agency appeared in 1939.