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That's certainly a good idea, but ...

Any regional "wire service" would be even more dependent on member papers than the current AP. And with member papers slashing and burning resources every week, there would be no hope for that type of upstart organization to succeed in this climate.

 

As we know, "boots on the ground" is expensive. That's our problem.
And, we already have revenue. How is someone going to do it without positive cashflow?
It would die before it started.

 

If I am not mistaken member papers are forced to let the AP run there stories though the contract your paper has with the AP. Atleast that's what the contract my old sports paper had with the AP.

They did not get a percentage of the membership prize cut or anything like that.

But give it a week or two and I bet the AP will shut down this little project because they get to many emails and phone calls that have already answered or are just rude.

 

Well, we know in a couple of markets (Ohio?) that papers are swapping NFL coverage or some such.

 

Dear AP,

Why are the people that answer the phones in NYC such dicks?

Thanks,

NS

 

<i>The expectation of coverage now, and 20 years ago is different.</i>

I'm not sure that's true, and I'm positive that the mechanics of generating coverage are much easier today. Go back 25 years and every freaking MLB game was being dictated to NY -- basic story, box score and how the runs scored. The lead had to be in after seven innings so the desk would have enough time to work with it. The box and runs needed constant updating. The person covering the game had no way to access the edited story, so the desk would wind up editing again for the optional. They were also filing separate stories for PMs papers in those days, which they aren't now.

The frenzy was pretty much the same on college football Saturdays and NFL Sundays.

These days AP staffers file a lead through the system and get it back with edits made. It's much smoother, much less time consuming and prone to far fewer inaccuracies.

Not sure why you're mingling the rodeo agate and dead soldiers. Unless there's a disaster the proportion of 9/11, the AP news and sports desks aren't going to be working the same side of the street much.

 

Thanks for sharing that, Smasher. It's interesting to read how the mechanics of it have changed.

 

I'll defend the AP here, as a former temp there (and as one who got his start in the dying days of UPI's Indianapolis bureau), as one married to a former 10-year vet there (including being a "dick" in NYC), and as one whose oldest son has an AP sports writer for his godmother:

Everyone tends to think the wire has some massive desk going on, but in most cases where you're calling is more thinly staffed than the smallest huckleberry paper. It's cooperative, so members own the AP, and provide it with copy. The AP, whatever its sins, has been caught in the conundrum of its newspaper members demanding more to fill space, yet demanding to pay less for it. I know for years the AP has looked at other sources of income because of this. The AP's move toward online isn't a reflection of it killing newspapers, but of an attempt to stop the opposite from happening.

Meanwhile, you have the vagaries of the operation itself. Sometimes stringers call in late -- or don't call in at all. Sometimes, on the state desks, you have people who previously didn't do sports a day in their lives responsible for writing and editing copy, and there are probably only two or three of them (or fewer) to begin with working everything else for the night, as well. (Having to do sports was the biggest shock to the system for my wife when she first started at the AP.)

Not to say that every wire staffer is a hard-working person doing his or her best to move great quickly against impossible odds. As with any organization, there are some people who are lazy or just don't get it. But if you wonder why the people you call are cranky, it might be because you're demanding a box score at the same time someone else is demanding a write-up on a fatal fire, while a broadcaster is calling in a story, etc. I would recommend a little understanding when you call and ask for something. Then if the person is a jerk about it, you can feel rightfully peeved.

 

Now you're mingling my own post.
"Expectation of coverage" and "mechanics" are two different arguments. Of course it's easier to file. It's called technology. But, one story -- other than a gamer you're looking for -- could come with 10 writethrus (many times updated for web), photos, video, graphics (with other multimedia). My point was, it isn't just a story, a couple of writethrus and a photo anymore.
You're stuck on gamers and boxes.
My post had very little to do with Sports, much more to do with the industry.

The reason simple. Because most live in a myopic cloud ("where's my Canucks sum?") and lose sight of the big picture. Here forgetting the size of operation and mission of the Associated Press. The example wasn't meant to be taken literal. I was pointing to the breadth.

 

<i>The reason simple. Because most live in a myopic cloud ("where's my Canucks sum?") and lose sight of the big picture. Here forgetting the size of operation and mission of the Associated Press. The example wasn't meant to be taken literal. I was pointing to the breadth.</i>


Non-point. A plane crash in Peru has nothing to do with the missing Canucks summary.

 

You've just described the scene at every AP member paper. Everyone is understaffed, overworked, doing things they don't have the expertise to do.

Bottom line: You sell a service, be prepared to provide the service. If my electricity goes out, I don't spend a lot of time thinking about the poor workers who have to leave their homes to correct the problem. I just want the lights back on.

 

I've worked at a paper that didn't have AP. It's not pretty.