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How did the telegraph speed up the gathering and distribution of news?

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A woman telephone operator wearing a headset sits at a manual switchboard, connecting calls by plugging cords into rows of jacks, circa 1900. — communication Operator at a telephone switchboard, c. 1900.

The telegraph revolutionized the gathering and distribution of news by enabling instantaneous communication over vast distances, effectively overcoming the limitations of time and space that previously relied on physical transport like mounted couriers or packet boats.123

Before the telegraph, reporting on events in distant cities could take days; however, the technology allowed news to be transmitted immediately from remote locations and foreign countries, particularly after the installation of undersea cables across the English Channel and the Atlantic Ocean. This shift fundamentally changed journalism in several ways:13

Wire Services: The high cost of telegraphic transmission led to the creation of news agencies and cooperatives, such as the Associated Press and Reuters, which pooled resources to share the expense of reporting.45
Continuous Reporting: These agencies provided a steady stream of international "spot news," allowing newspapers to report the bare facts of events as they occurred.5
National Status: Rapid delivery of information helped capital-city newspapers achieve national status, making news a more urgent and attractive commodity for the public.1