Federal News Service (FNS) is a Washington, D.C.–based company providing transcription services. FNS produces on-demand verbatim transcripts of newsworthy events in DC (including speeches, congressional hearings, and interviews) for its clients."CQ Roll Call Acquires Federal News Service"
(press release), CQ Roll Call (December 1, 2014). FNS "is one of the chief sources of transcripts from presidential appearances and

Capitol Hill Capitol Hill, in addition to being a metonym for the United States Congress, is the largest historic residential neighborhood in Washington, D.C., stretching easterly in front of the United States Capitol along wide avenues. It is one of the ...

events"."Dolan Co. acquires Federal News Service"
''The Washington Post'' (August 16, 2010).

History

FNS was incorporated in 1985.
''The New York Times'' (July 27, 1987). Before the creation of FNS, many years "the only way to find out what exactly was said at a Washington hearing or briefing was to be there. Harried journalists, lawyers and Government staff workers dashed from session to session, then relied on scribbled notes and individual tape recordings to reconstruct what happened." The creation of the Federal News Service filled a market niche; ''The New York Times wrote in 1987 that "this high-technology transcription company with a low public profile has quickly, and quietly, made itself indispensable to news organizations, many branches of Government and even foreign governments by covering news conferences, briefings and other sessions among Washington's comment mills: the press offices and public affairs offices of the departments of

State State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...

and

Defense Defense or defence may refer to: Tactical, martial, and political acts or groups * Defense (military), forces primarily intended for warfare * Civil defense, the organizing of civilians to deal with emergencies or enemy attacks * Defense indus ...

, the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in ...

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...

and television talk shows." Im December 1995, the

Federal Trade Commission The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is an independent agency of the United States government whose principal mission is the enforcement of civil (non-criminal) antitrust law and the promotion of consumer protection. The FTC shares jurisdiction o ...

approved a consent agreement with the Reuters America unit of Reuters Holdings P.L.C. and with Federal News Service Group Inc.Associated Press
Transcript Services Settle Charges with F.T.C.
(December 28, 1995). This agreement settled charges that the two firm, the United States' largest producers of verbatim transcripts, had an anti-competitive agreement. Under the agreement, no party admitted any wrongdoing. In July 2009, FNS filed a

lawsuit - A lawsuit is a proceeding by a party or parties against another in the civil court of law. The archaic term "suit in law" is found in only a small number of laws still in effect today. The term "lawsuit" is used in reference to a civil act ...

in federal court in Washington against ''

Congressional Quarterly Congressional Quarterly, Inc., or CQ, is part of a privately owned publishing company called CQ Roll Call that produces a number of publications reporting primarily on the United States Congress. CQ was acquired by the Economist Group and combined ...

'', as well as CQ's then-parent companies (the

Times Publishing Company Times Publishing Company is a newspaper and magazine publisher. Its flagship publication is the ''Tampa Bay Times'' (formerly the ''St. Petersburg Times''), a daily newspaper serving the Tampa Bay area. It also publishes the business magazine ''Flo ...

and the Poynter Institute for Media Studies), CQ's subsidiary CQ Transcriptions, and a CQ vendor, Morningside Partners.Reuters
"Transcript Service Sues Congressional Quarterly"
(July 2, 2009). FNS accused CQ of

corporate espionage Industrial espionage, economic espionage, corporate spying, or corporate espionage is a form of espionage conducted for commercial purposes instead of purely national security. While political espionage is conducted or orchestrated by governmen ...

, alleging in court documents that CQ had paid a FSN employee to provide it with confidential business information and that CQ had used a customer password to access FNS transcripts. In August 2010, it was reported that FNS had been purchased by the

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over t ...

-based Dolan Company, a publisher of business journals and trade media. Dolan purchased FNS from the trustee of the bankruptcy estate of FNS's former owner, Cheryl A. Reagan. On December 1, 2014, CQ Roll Call announced that it was acquiring FNS from Dolan for an undisclosed sum. CQ Roll Call is a wholly owned subsidiary of The Economist Group and was formed from the merger of ''Congressional Quarterly'', ''

Roll Call ''Roll Call'' is a newspaper and website published in Washington, D.C., United States, when the United States Congress is in session, reporting news of legislative and political maneuverings on Capitol Hill, as well as political coverage of ...

'', and Capitol Advantage."About CQ Roll Call"
CQ Roll Call.

References

External links

Official website
{{Authority control Mass media companies based in Washington, D.C. Mass media companies established in 1983 American companies established in 1983 1983 establishments in Washington, D.C.