Dispatch News Service International (DNSI) was an alternative news agency that operated from 1968 to 1973. Initially focusing on in-depth reporting on the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

, DNS as it was commonly known, established its main operations in

Saigon Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) ('','' TP.HCM; ), commonly known as Saigon (; ), is the most populous city in Vietnam with a population of around 14 million in 2025. The city's geography is defined by rivers and canals, of which the largest is Saigo ...

South Vietnam South Vietnam, officially the Republic of Vietnam (RVN; , VNCH), was a country in Southeast Asia that existed from 1955 to 1975. It first garnered Diplomatic recognition, international recognition in 1949 as the State of Vietnam within the ...

. Reporters traveled extensively throughout Southeast Asia, reporting from various capitals, but its focus remained the countries of Cambodia, Laos, and Thailand. Among the reporting distributed by DNS was

Seymour Hersh Seymour Myron Hersh (born April 8, 1937) is an American investigative journalist and political writer. He gained recognition in 1969 for exposing the My Lai massacre and its cover-up during the Vietnam War, for which he received the 1970 Pulitzer ...

's My Lai massacre story. For his exclusive disclosure of the Vietnam War tragedy at the hamlet of My Lai, Hersh, as well as DNS, received the

Pulitzer Prize for International Reporting This Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prizes () are 23 annual awards given by Columbia University in New York City for achievements in the United States in "journalism, arts and letters". They were established in 1917 by the will of Joseph Pulitz ...

in 1970. Contributors to DNSI included

John Steinbeck IV John Ernst Steinbeck IV (June 12, 1946 – February 7, 1991) was an American journalist and author. He was the second child of the Nobel Prize-winning author John Ernst Steinbeck. In 1965, he was drafted into the United States Army and served i ...

, John Everingham, Sean Flynn, Don Luce, Thomas C. Fox, Steve Erhart, Crystal Erhart,

Gareth Porter Gareth Porter (born June 18, 1942) is an American historian, investigative journalist, author and policy analyst specializing in U.S. national security issues. He was an anti-war activist during the Vietnam War and has written about the potenti ...

, J. L. Rivera, Christopher Beck,

Jonathan Unger Professor Jonathan Unger (born 1946) is a journalist and an expert on China. His major works include ''The Transformation of Rural China'' and ''The Nature of Chinese Politics from Mao to Jiang'' (as editor). Unger is currently conducting resear ...

, Michael Berger, D. E. Ronk, Boris Baczynskj,

David Boggett David (; , "beloved one") was a king of ancient Israel and Judah and the Kings of Israel and Judah, third king of the Kingdom of Israel (united monarchy), United Monarchy, according to the Hebrew Bible and Old Testament. The Tel Dan stel ...

and many others. The Washington, D.C., office was managed and directed by Dick Berliner, followed by Desmond McAllister, then

David Obst David Obst is an American literary agent and author. Obst was the agent of Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward. He also was involved in the productions of the films ''Revenge of the Nerds'', ''Fast Times at Ridgemont High'', and ''All the President's ...

, and later Joe Gatins.

History

DNS was founded in 1968 by young journalists Michael Morrow, Dan Derby, Emerson Manawis, and actor Richard Hughes. The affiliated Dispatch News Service International was incorporated in

Manila Manila, officially the City of Manila, is the Capital of the Philippines, capital and second-most populous city of the Philippines after Quezon City, with a population of 1,846,513 people in 2020. Located on the eastern shore of Manila Bay on ...

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

in 1968; the incorporators were Morrow, Emerson Manawis, Mariano D. Manawis, Josefina A. Manawis, and Emilie A. Manawis. The agency was forced to close in 1973 when it "failed to find adequate financial support for /nowiki>its/nowiki> operations."

Bureaus

International

DNS had bureaus and/or representative offices in the following countries with its respective manager or representative: *

Taipei , nickname = The City of Azaleas , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Taiwan#Asia#Pacific Ocean#Earth , coordinates = , subdivision_type = Country ...

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

— Christine Lin *

Vientiane Vientiane (, ) is the capital city, capital and largest city of Laos. Situated on the banks of the Mekong, Mekong River at the Thailand, Thai border, it comprises the five urban districts of Vientiane Prefecture and had a population of 840,000 ...

Laos Laos, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic (LPDR), is the only landlocked country in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by Myanmar and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the southeast, and Thailand to the west and ...

— Crystal Eastin *

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

— Richard Anderson, James Falk and Peter Viola *

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

— Jacques Leslie *

Macau Macau or Macao is a special administrative regions of China, special administrative region of the People's Republic of China (PRC). With a population of about people and a land area of , it is the most List of countries and dependencies by p ...

— Stephen Thomas *

Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai language, Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estim ...

Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

— Frank Sommerville

Domestic

In the United States, DNS had bureaus and/or representative offices in the following cities: * San Francisco — Tom Donaldson and Kitty Wynn * Los Angeles — Steven Nichols, Sally Benson and Lynn Shavelson * Boston — John Thompson * New York City — Richard Greenbaum * Seattle — Peter Morrow

References

External links

* {{Authority control 1968 establishments 1973 disestablishments News agencies based in the United States