Interfax

Interfax: Breaking into Global News details the history and operations of Interfax, the largest and most cited Russian news agency. Published to coincide with Interfax’s 25th anniversary, the book describes in detail how the agency has established itself as the main source of information about events in Russia.

Written by Oliver Boyd-Barrett, a renowned expert on media and news agencies, the book’s chapters are devoted to a variety of structures and services of the Interfax Group, with particular attention given to the agency’s core divisions – the General and Political News Service and the Business and Financial New Service.

The author likewise dwells in detail on Interfax’s high-tech information and analytical products, its development of new segments of the financial information market and its geographical expansion, including the launch of the Interfax Global Energy project. The book closes with a discussion of Interfax’s strategy for further growth, and potential risks and challenges the agency may encounter in the foreseeable future.

Interfax: Breaking into Global News is based on the author’s proprietary, primary sources, his conversations and interviews with top Interfax Group managers and a selection of Interfax’s largest clients and business partners, as well as other competitive intelligence and public sources.

In describing the book, Oliver Boyd-Barrett says that “The story of Interfax has rich instructive value for professionals, teachers and students of journalism and media. Interfax is indispensable to professional reporting of general, political, economic and financial news of Russia, the former Soviet Union and much further afield. It is an important and innovative model for how a news agency can sustain both editorial independence and business autonomy in challenging contexts. A unique exemplar among news agencies of the economics of news reporting, Interfax deserves the attention of all who care about the economic viability of international news reporting.”