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UPI started as the United Press Associations wire service, founded in 1907 by newspaper publisher E.W. Scripps to compete with the huge Associated Press. In 1959, United Press merged with International News Service, which had been formed in 1909 by newspaper publisher William Randolph Hearst, to become United Press International.
UPI was hurt by changes in the modern news business, including the closing of many of America's afternoon newspapers, and was unprofitable for years. It went through seven owners between 1992 and 2000, when it was acquired by News World Communications, owner of the Washington Times. UPI's chief correspondent and most famous reporter, Helen Thomas, promptly resigned, complaining about the Times's links to the Unification Church.
News people who work for UPI are nicknamed "Unipressers." Famous Unipressers from UPI's glory days include broadcast journalists Walter Cronkite, David Brinkley, Howard K. Smith, Eric Sevareid, and William Shirer, who is best remembered today for writing Rise and Fall of the Third Reich.