UNI - a robust pillar of the Indian press
Founded in 1961, the United News of India (UNI) has over the decades – through the farsighted strategies of its versatile management and the ceaseless toil of its disciplined journalists plus other employees – emerged as one of the largest news agencies in Asia. The company has carved a niche for itself in the Fourth Estate by providing rapid and accurat
e coverage of every major event in India and abroad through transmission in four languages – English, Hindi, Urdu and Kannada – besides a Photo service. The past 59 years have borne witness to UNI blossoming into a key player in the sector by virtue of its sheer range of coverage that leaves not a single sphere of human activity untouched; be it politics, economics, business, sports and entertainment, in addition to comprehensive inputs regarding the latest developments in education,
health, science and the corporate world. No matter what the grueling or perilous circumstances, our foremost priority has been to ensure that our valued subscribers do not miss out on anything, be it an international event of considerable ramifications or a localised one that our rivals may choose to ignore. Timely updates of developing news stories from around the globe comprise the
hallmark of this online venture. UNI provides news to approximately 1,000 subscribers within India and outside the nation’s borders. The clientele include newspapers published in as many as 14 languages, the Prime Minister’s Office, Union ministers’ workplaces, central and state governments, corporate houses, besides electronic and web-based media. Our English, Hindi, Urdu and Kannada websites are updated round-the-clock 365 days a year. At present, we are providing in excess of 1,500 reports a day, including features and special stories that are certain to attract the eyes and mind of the discerning reader! We also upload more than 150 high-resolution digital pictures daily. UNI remains the first and only agency in the world to supply news in Urdu, a language spoken by a sizeable segment. The Urdu service was launched by none other than the then Premier PV Narasimha Rao on June 5, 1992. Our news bureaus operate in all state capitals and other major cities of the country and we boast representatives in key world capitals. Adding yet another feather to its glorious cap, UNI diversified by launching its television service in 2011 and thereby threw rivals off balance. Going by the name UNI Television or simply by the popular abbreviation UNI-TV, the enterprise provided news clippings
and also offered back-end support to regional channels looking for coverage in metros and other big cities. In 2020, after a gap of nine years, UNI has once again accelerated endeavours in the digital market. In view of its vast experience, this premier news agency is uniquely positioned to bridge the yawning gap vis-à-vis quality, non-fiction and audio-visual support services in the context of existing print, electronic media and social media. Since its inception, the agency covered each and every press conference conducted by government representatives. For us, nothing – absolutely nothing – is ‘trivial’. The subscribers are updated 24x7 thanks to the agency’s powerful presence in every state and Union Territory. Its communication network stretches more than 90,000 km within India – a fact that never fails to make people sit up and take notice of us! A glowing testament to our indomitable courage, unalloyed dedication to duty, sense of sacrifice and insurmountable will is that UNI had merely five staff members when it commenced operations but that number has now expanded to 300 ace journalists and over 50 skilled photographers. We introduced many innovative methods that directly translated into an enhancement in our popularity. In 1968, a weekly backgrounder service was introduced focussing on burning issues. Its characteristics – namely proper documentation and in-depth knowledge – attracted even students, particularly those preparing for the prestigious
Civil Services Examination. In 1970, a new dimension was lent to agrarian sphere coverage through the UNI agriculture news and feature service. We scripted journalistic history through our brilliant and sensitive reporting of the 1962 Indo-China conflict, the Indo-Pak wars of 1965 and 1971 plus Kargil. On the ominous day when a senior politician was assassinated in southern India, our stringer was the first to flash the grim news to our New Delhi headquarters. We are known for our
unparalleled finesse in the context of election news, parliamentary and Assembly coverage, whispers in the bureaucratic corridors of power, major shifts in economic policy, etc. For world news, UNI has a news-sharing agreement with Sputnik, Xinhua and the Qatar News Agency.
