The Economist has a look at the backbone of news organizations this week, the wire services, and how they’re reshaping their input and output in the digital age.

The magazine asserts that wires may actually have a brighter future than their supplier/client newspapers because of their ability to sell directly to the consumer. The standing question is whether they’ll sufficiently invest in reporting on the ground to ensure they don’t need the supplying papers to cover the news.

It’s been interesting, as a former wire service reporter and manager, to see the services rework their approaches. I noted this week that The Canadian Press is seeking investment to bolster its multiplatform journalism, and our Canwest News Service continues to develop new distribution channels for its content derived from the chain’s newsrooms and its own staff.

In the end the services are in good shape to weather the storm.