Ask AP

Saw this on the wire and thought it was an unusual move by AP. Has potential, if the AP editors don't shy away from difficult questions about the journalism business.

 

Hey, AP ... Why do y'all suck so much?

Much love,

RB

 

RB,
I'm guessing never worked for AP?
How much wire copy you running, these days?

 

That assumes member papers will run the Q&A column.
My questions for the AP:
• How much of your news report and not just national, but state-by-state, is derived from member papers?
• Do those member papers receive any form of financial compensation for their efforts, including breaks in what they pay for from the AP?
• What was your revenue for the past fiscal year?
• What your expenses?
• How much of your annual revenue comes from subscription fees from online web sites?
• How many of those online sites contribute to the news report?
• Are the AP's efforts in the online world damaging the financial aspect of the print business?
• How can you claim to be a co-op if a large chunk of your fees-paying members don't contribute to the report?

That's all for now, I'll think of more later.

 

I won't be holding my breath for those answers

 

Damn. Beat me to it.

 

Because they know you have no real alternative. Things were different when UPI was in business and running at full speed.

 

Oh, c'mon guys.
It's always easy to blame. But take a look. The expectation of coverage now, and 20 years ago is different.
The member papers are the same, but the contribution from the members -- because of lack of resources and layoffs -- diminished.
It is a news organization that covers the world, an aggregate of information from the presidential election to PBA agate out of Reno, Nev. Stories. Photographs. Graphics. These days, multimedia.
A behemoth of grand proportions.
I see you guys on here complain about the timeliness of rodeo agate, some nights. At that same time, there are Associated Press correspondents and editors confirming everything from MLB trade rumors to dead marines and soldiers.
I see the Sports sections. Most years judge them come this time of year.
For a vast majority of papers, if you eliminated AP, you could do the same with the paper.
The countless sections I see -- and these are the APSE entries -- have four or five story covers. Local centerpiece, with AP stories in formation around the centerpiece. One after another. One after another.
You see, wire copy is no longer filler. It's the meat.
So, do you think your chain or publisher makes money off the Associated Press?
You think that tiered service contract isn't worth it? Rhetorical, but you see point.

(Granted, there are outside contracts signed by the AP in the last couple of years that legitimately can be disputed. But, level of service is tough to argue if one looks past their own 50k circulation newspaper).

 

At least everyone now has an e-mail address to use when they want to know where a box score or an optional is.

 

Hey, AP:

Who thought this was a good headline?

Wallace had 23 points, 15 rebounds in Pistons’ 90-80 win over Spurs

 

Well said.

AP's a life-saver for most papers.

 

Agreed, by the way.

But I would add that I think it's probably pas time that some regional affiliations above and beyond the AP might serve a good purpose.