Abstract
Quality control mechanisms exist in leading international news agencies. Monitoring the news output day-by-day or news-cycle by news-cycle so as to help improve performance `to-morrow', they are `hands-on' exercises in dissecting failures and comparing output with that of rival news-feeds and organizations - whether via text (in the form of figures and words), sound or image (news-films, still photos, computer graphics, etc.). Working from the assumption that journalists are their own severest critics and observing how they seek and note feedback from customers (both media and non-media), we look at Reuters' control mechanisms. The period observed is that of the Iraq `regime change', the US/UK offensive against Saddam Hussein, in March-April 2003. This case study illustrates attempts to identify elements of `the alchemy of news', while reviewing the logistics of coverage of one of the top international news stories of 2003.
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