Duplicate content vs Syndicated - penalties?

Hoping someone can provide some advice here.

I run a bunch of membership websites that are all based on the same niche, but they are city specific.

Now I have added a blog for each site, which I update with a small write up on every new member that joins. I then spin that content, and push it out to the entire network I have created.

My question comes down to articles I would like to share across the network. I dont want to spin these articles, they are relevant and very well written in most cases. If I was to push that content onto my own blog network, keeping the article exactly the same, would it be considered duplicate content? It would seem to be the case to me, but then I am not quite sure how the hell news sites are using syndicated content.

More than half the stories on an average news site are from an agency like the AFP, Reuters or Bloombergs, and cannot be edited or spun due to copyright issues.

I would be doing the same thing for my specific niche, Im just not sure if its going to do more harm than good.

Google is cutting down on Duplicated content.

My advice would be to keep it all freshly created. Not spun as in Google's eyes it looks bad.

If you cant be bothered to do it then outsource the articles.

Most of the articles, a good 90% of them, will be original and spun using syntax, not automated.

There are times though when there are articles that I dont want to spin at all, but post to all those blogs.

I guess duplicated content is duplicated content, no matter how I like to spin it in my head

Thanks for your help