The United Press

     Information on international affairs is scant in the U.S. press, and, as often happens everywhere, it is filtered in unsuspected ways. United Press International (UPI) was once a primary source of international news. Then it was bought by a Mexican whose financing is obscure. He turned it into a Third World propaganda vehicle, presumably at the time when Mexico hoped to lead the Third World. Many newspapers, including the New York Times, cancelled their subscriptions, and it went bankrupt. It was bought by Saudi Arabian interests. Whether this will save it and how it will be affected remains to be seen.
     Arnaud de Borchgrave has accepted a five-year contract as President and CEO. He is a highly respected, well-informed and perceptive journalist. He was born in Belgium and educated in a British naval college. He became UPI head in Belgium and then moved to the United States, where he became chief editorial writer of the Washington Times. He has in recent years been a member of the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D.C. Arnaud de Borchgrave's integrity is a guarantee that UPI will not be used for disinformation and his knowledge of international affairs that it will not spread misinformation. UPI may again become an important vehicle for international news, and we wish it well.

Ronald Hilton - 02/16/99

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     Bruno Lopez, a Knight Fellow from Mexico, writes:


     "I am happy about the fate of UPI. I hope someone will make it again the decent wire service it used to be. I worked for it for three years. Like for hundreds of other journalists, UPI was the launching pad of my career, and the love I have for the trade was instilled there. UPI has been for decades in crisis; the lowest stage of the downhill trip began when the company was purchased by a couple of members of the Bahai church in the early eighties. They cannibalized the company, selling of some of its most valuable assets (such as the photo service). When the service was sold to Mexican media tycoon Mario Vazquez Rana, it was already in ruins. He just finished it off. I have not seen recent client figures for the company,W but my understanding is that it has less that 10% of the media users it used to have in the late Seventies."

Ronald Hilton - 02/16/99