News Agencies of the World MCQs | PDF Free Download
This News Agencies of the World MCQs set is built around the wire services behind your morning news, Reuters, AP, Xinhua, and Pakistan’s own APP included. Fifty questions test what you actually know about who reports the news first.
1. Reuters is headquartered in which country?
2. Associated Press (AP) is a news agency based in:
3. Press Trust of India (PTI) is India’s largest news agency and was founded in:
4. Agence France-Presse (AFP) is the national news agency of:
5. Xinhua News Agency is the official news agency of which country?
6. ANI (Asian News International) is primarily associated with which country?
7. TASS is the official news agency of:
8. Kyodo News is the leading news agency of:
9. DPA (Deutsche Presse-Agentur) is the national news agency of:
10. EFE is the largest news agency in the Spanish-speaking world and is based in:
11. Reuters was originally established in which year?
12. The Associated Press (AP) was founded in:
13. Bloomberg News is primarily known for its coverage of:
14. Al Jazeera, a prominent global news network, is headquartered in:
15. PTI (Press Trust of India) operates as a:
16. AFP (Agence France-Presse) traces its origins back to which historic agency?
17. The Canadian Press (CP) is the national news agency of:
18. Bernama is the official news agency of:
19. WAM (Emirates News Agency) represents which country?
20. Notimex, now merged into Agencia Mexicana de Noticias, was the news agency of:
21. Interfax is a major independent news agency specializing in:
22. Yonhap News Agency is the national news service of:
23. AAP (Australian Associated Press) was founded in:
24. IRNA (Islamic Republic News Agency) is the official news service of:
25. BTA (Bulgarian News Agency) is one of the oldest in Europe, established in:
26. Prensa Latina is the state-run news agency of:
27. Belga is the national news agency of:
28. Lusa is the primary news agency of:
29. Kazinform is the national news agency of:
30. CNA (Central News Agency) is the official news agency of:
31. SANA (Syrian Arab News Agency) is the state-run agency of:
32. Tanjug was the national news agency of which former country?
33. MAP (Maghreb Arabe Presse) is the official agency of:
34. NNA (National News Agency) serves which country?
35. RIA Novosti merged into Rossiya Segodnya in 2014, under the direction of:
36. The Associated Press of Pakistan (APP), Pakistan’s national news agency, was established in:
37. Anadolu Agency, founded in 1920 during the Turkish War of Independence, is the national news agency of:
38. ANSA (Agenzia Nazionale Stampa Associata), formed in 1945, is the leading news agency of:
39. Which Indian news agency became the first in the world to launch a dedicated Urdu news service?
40. MENA (Middle East News Agency) is the official state news agency of:
41. KUNA is the national news agency of:
42. The Saudi Press Agency (SPA) is the official news agency of:
43. QNA (Qatar News Agency) represents which country?
44. Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha (BSS) was formed in 1972 by converting the Dhaka bureau of:
45. Antara, Indonesia’s national news agency, was founded in:
46. The Vietnam News Agency first broadcast Ho Chi Minh’s Declaration of Independence in:
47. Jiji Press and Kyodo News were both formed in 1945 after the breakup of which wartime Japanese news agency?
48. PAP (Polska Agencja Prasowa) is the national news agency of:
49. BelTA (Belarusian Telegraph Agency) is the state news agency of:
50. Ukrinform is the national news agency of:
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Every current affairs section leans on the same handful of names: Reuters, AP, PTI, APP, and a rotating cast of regional wire services most people have heard of but never actually studied. The rundown below fills in the gaps the quiz above just tested, agency by agency, so a wrong answer turns into something you actually remember.
News agencies at a glance
A handful of agencies show up in almost every current affairs paper you will sit. Here is how ten of the biggest compare, side by side.
| Agency | Country | Founded | Known for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reuters | United Kingdom | 1851 | World’s oldest wire service still operating under its original name |
| Associated Press (AP) | United States | 1846 | Largest US news cooperative |
| Agence France-Presse (AFP) | France | 1835 (as Havas) | One of the three original global wire services |
| Xinhua | China | 1931 | China’s official state news agency |
| TASS | Russia | 1904 | Russia’s principal state news agency |
| Press Trust of India (PTI) | India | 1947 | South Asia’s largest news cooperative |
| Associated Press of Pakistan (APP) | Pakistan | 1947 | Pakistan’s official state news agency |
| Anadolu Agency | Turkey | 1920 | State-run, active in over 100 countries |
| Kyodo News | Japan | 1945 | Japan’s nonprofit cooperative agency |
| Al Jazeera | Qatar | 1996 | Major Arabic and English news network |
How old are these agencies, really
Line these agencies up by age and the spread is real. Some have been filing stories since before photography was common. Others are younger than the internet.
Years in continuous operation, counted to 2026.
A few patterns worth noticing
- Government ownership is the norm, not the exception. Outside a handful of Western agencies, most national wire services, APP, Xinhua, TASS, IRNA, and SANA among them, are run or funded by the state.
- Independence often arrives with a news agency attached. APP, BSS, Antara, and the Vietnam News Agency were all founded within months of their country’s independence, and a couple of them literally broadcast the announcement.
- “National News Agency” is a template name. Translate NNA, BelTA, Bernama, or Ukrinform into English and each one lands somewhere close to that same phrase.
- Cooperative ownership is rarer than it looks. PTI, UNI, AAP, and the Canadian Press are owned by the newspapers that use them, not by a government or a single company.
- A few agencies split from one parent. Kyodo News and Jiji Press both trace back to the same wartime Japanese agency, and TASS grew out of a chain of Tsarist and Soviet predecessors dating to 1904.
“A story can leave a wire service desk in one city and land on a screen on the other side of the planet before the reporter who filed it has finished their coffee.”
Pro tip: sort agencies by region before you try to memorize fifty names at once. Group the South Asian ones (PTI, APP, BSS, UNI), the Gulf ones (WAM, SPA, KUNA, QNA), and the old European ones (Reuters, Havas or AFP, ANSA, DPA) separately, and the list stops feeling like a wall of trivia.
How one story reaches everyone at once
Wondering how one report turns into news everywhere at once? A wire service does not publish to the public directly. It sells the same verified report to hundreds of outlets at the same moment, and each one repackages it for its own audience.
Before you go
Fifty questions cannot cover every wire service on the planet, but they cover the ones that keep turning up in PPSC, FPSC, and CSS papers, plus a few from Pakistan’s own neighborhood that general knowledge guides tend to skip. Work through the quiz once, then check anything you got wrong against the table and the age chart above. Come back to it cold in a few days and see what actually stuck.
If you are building English vocabulary alongside current affairs, this vocabulary playlist is worth a look. For more general knowledge sets built around Pakistani competitive exams, visit the PPSC exam resources page.
Frequently asked questions
Quick answers on news agencies and this MCQ set.
News Agencies of the World MCQs are one of the most predictable topics in PPSC, FPSC, NTS, and CSS general knowledge papers. If you have ever skipped this chapter thinking it is “too easy,” today we are going to fix that mistake together.
What Exactly Is a News Agency?
A news agency is an organization that gathers, verifies, and distributes news to newspapers, TV channels, radio stations, and websites around the world. Think of it as the wholesale supplier of news — individual media houses are the retailers who package that raw information for you. When your favorite anchor says “according to Reuters” or “AFP reports,” they are quoting one of these giant news-gathering organizations, not doing the reporting themselves. Understanding how these agencies work, who owns them, and where they are headquartered is exactly why News Agencies of the World MCQs keep showing up in exam after exam.
Why This Topic Deserves Your Attention
Examiners love this topic because it is factual, compact, and easy to frame as a one-line question. A single date or headquarters name can make or break a question, which is exactly why aspirants preparing News Agencies of the World MCQs need to be precise, not just familiar.
- Appears almost every year in PPSC, FPSC, and NTS general knowledge sections
- Overlaps with current affairs, since news agencies are frequently in the headlines themselves
- Builds a foundation for related topics like international organizations and world capitals
- Quick to revise — a few tables and you are exam-ready
Major News Agencies of the World
Let’s walk through the news agencies of the world that appear most often in exams, region by region, before we jump into the practice MCQs.
North America and Europe
- Associated Press (AP) — founded in 1846 in New York, it is the oldest and one of the largest news agencies of the world.
- Reuters — established in 1851, headquartered in London, and famous for financial and breaking news coverage.
- Agence France-Presse (AFP) — the world’s oldest news agency, founded in Paris in 1835.
- DPA (Deutsche Presse-Agentur) — Germany’s leading agency, based in Hamburg since 1949.
- ANSA — Italy’s national news agency, founded in Rome in 1945.
Asia
- Xinhua News Agency — China’s official state agency, founded in 1931 and based in Beijing.
- Press Trust of India (PTI) — India’s largest news agency, established in 1947.
- Associated Press of Pakistan (APP) — Pakistan’s official news agency, founded in 1947 and headquartered in Islamabad.
- Kyodo News — Japan’s main non-profit agency, formed in 1945.
- Yonhap — South Korea’s national news agency, established in 1980.
Middle East and Others
- Anadolu Agency — Turkey’s state-run agency, founded in 1920.
- IRNA — Iran’s official news agency, established in 1934.
- WAM (Emirates News Agency) — the UAE’s official agency, founded in 1976.
- TASS — Russia’s leading agency, tracing its roots back to 1904.
“A nation’s news agencies are its eyes and ears turned toward the rest of the world — and often, the rest of the world’s eyes and ears turned toward it.”
Comparison Table: Top News Agencies of the World
This table is the single most exam-useful part of this post. Bookmark it, screenshot it, revise it the night before your test.
| Agency | Country | Founded | Headquarters |
|---|---|---|---|
| Agence France-Presse (AFP) | France | 1835 | Paris |
| Associated Press (AP) | USA | 1846 | New York |
| Reuters | UK | 1851 | London |
| TASS | Russia | 1904 | Moscow |
| Anadolu Agency | Turkey | 1920 | Ankara |
| Xinhua News Agency | China | 1931 | Beijing |
| IRNA | Iran | 1934 | Tehran |
| EFE | Spain | 1939 | Madrid |
| Kyodo News | Japan | 1945 | Tokyo |
| ANSA | Italy | 1945 | Rome |
| Press Trust of India (PTI) | India | 1947 | New Delhi |
| Associated Press of Pakistan (APP) | Pakistan | 1947 | Islamabad |
Quick Facts: Founding Years at a Glance
Here is a simple place-value style breakdown of founding years. Reading dates digit by digit like this actually helps many students recall them faster during exams.
| Agency | Thousands | Hundreds | Tens | Units |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AFP (1835) | 1 | 8 | 3 | 5 |
| AP (1846) | 1 | 8 | 4 | 6 |
| Reuters (1851) | 1 | 8 | 5 | 1 |
| APP (1947) | 1 | 9 | 4 | 7 |
A Simple Visual: How a News Agency Works
Before the MCQs, here is a quick diagram showing how information actually flows from an event to your newspaper, through a news agency.
Pro Tip: Don’t just memorize headquarters — link each agency to its country’s biggest city. Paris → AFP, London → Reuters, Beijing → Xinhua. This one trick cuts your revision time in half and is exactly the kind of association that helps in timed News Agencies of the World MCQs.
Practice: News Agencies of the World MCQs
Test yourself with these questions. Tap each one to reveal the correct answer once you’ve made your guess — no peeking first!
1. Which news agency is known as the world’s oldest?
Agence France-Presse (AFP), founded in 1835.
2. Where is Reuters headquartered?
London, United Kingdom.
3. Associated Press of Pakistan (APP) was established in which year?
1947.
4. Xinhua News Agency belongs to which country?
China.
5. Which agency is Russia’s leading news agency?
TASS.
6. Press Trust of India (PTI) is headquartered in which city?
New Delhi.
7. Kyodo News is the national news agency of which country?
Japan.
8. Anadolu Agency belongs to which country?
Turkey.
9. Which is the official news agency of Iran?
IRNA (Islamic Republic News Agency).
10. Where is the Associated Press (AP) headquartered?
New York, USA.
11. EFE is the national news agency of which country?
Spain.
12. Yonhap News Agency represents which country?
South Korea.
13. DPA is the national news agency of which country?
Germany.
14. ANSA is the national news agency of which country?
Italy.
15. WAM is the official news agency of which country?
United Arab Emirates.
16. Which country’s national news agency is Bernama?
Malaysia.
17. What year was Reuters founded?
1851.
18. What year was the Associated Press (AP) founded?
1846.
19. Belga is the national news agency of which country?
Belgium.
20. Which of the following is NOT a news agency: Reuters, AFP, BBC, or TASS?
BBC — it is a broadcasting corporation, not a news agency.
Keep the Momentum Going
General knowledge topics like this one are rarely isolated — they connect to language and science sections too. If you want to strengthen your English portion alongside your GK prep, our detailed guide on Synonyms and Antonyms in English is a great next stop, and if science-based MCQs are more your speed, check out our post on Geometry of the Universe MCQs. You can also watch our full video walkthrough of this topic on the Alvipedia YouTube channel for a faster, spoken-word revision session.
Key Takeaway: Focus on four things for every agency — country, founding year, headquarters, and one distinguishing fact. That combination is exactly what most News Agencies of the World MCQs are built around.
Conclusion
News agencies quietly shape almost everything we read, watch, and hear about the world, which is exactly why News Agencies of the World MCQs remain such a reliable exam topic. Once you memorize the founding years, headquarters, and countries of the major players, this chapter becomes one of the easiest sources of guaranteed marks. Revisit the comparison table before your test, work through the MCQs above a second time, and pair this knowledge with related GK topics for maximum benefit. Consistency with small, factual chapters like this one is often what separates a good score from a great one. Keep practicing, and these facts will stick faster than you expect.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the top 5 news agencies of the world?
AFP, Associated Press, Reuters, Xinhua, and TASS are generally considered among the top global news agencies.
Which is Pakistan’s official news agency?
The Associated Press of Pakistan (APP), founded in 1947 and headquartered in Islamabad.
What is the oldest news agency in the world?
Agence France-Presse (AFP), founded in 1835 in Paris, is considered the world’s oldest news agency.
Is BBC a news agency?
No, the BBC is a broadcasting corporation. News agencies like Reuters and AFP supply raw news that broadcasters like BBC then present.
Why do exams ask about news agencies so often?
Because the facts are precise, verifiable, and easy to convert into one-line MCQs, making this a favorite topic for PPSC, FPSC, and NTS papers.
What is the difference between a news agency and a newspaper?
A news agency gathers and distributes raw news to many outlets, while a newspaper is one of those outlets that publishes the news to readers.
Which news agency is headquartered in Moscow?
TASS, Russia’s leading state news agency.
How should I revise News Agencies of the World MCQs before an exam?
Use the comparison table for quick recall, link each agency to its capital city, and test yourself with practice MCQs a day before your paper.