A wire service is, by definition, "an organization that supplies news to newspapers, radio and television stations, etc. using an electrical communication system." Here, Ciardi referred to the newspaper he used to read every morning. He commented that due to abundant and pacy exposures to sad news, readers of newpapers would finally be like robots or automatons; they would become indifferent to tragdies.

Wire service 這個名詞，指的是透過電子傳訊方式所提供的新聞。這個引句的作者 John Ciardi 感嘆說，由於電子傳媒傳遞新聞非常快速，新聞讀者每日接觸大量的悲劇報導，其結果可能是讓人變得麻木不仁，就像機器人一樣，再也不會對悲劇產生任何感覺。