Does AP have to be better?

Nah, there's Sports Ticker, Sports Network and even Reuters moves the occasional NBA standings.

 

As I see it, a better-informed electorate than will exist in 2040 elected George Bush in 2000. I weep for the future.

 

Maybe by 2040 the newsroom will spring for a DVR so we can pause the CNN ticker long enough to type up the election agate.

 

you said:


"There are other wire services and you can, in fact, get boxscores and press releases from every major sporting event for free."


and then followed it up with:


"I hate to break this to you guys but no one is buying your papers to read the same AP story they can read for free on their cellphones and RSS feeds."


do you not read even the slightest bit of humor into your own words?

 

The discussion involving PHINJ has become kind of circular, and maybe that's part of the intent. But here's the thing: Depending on what kind of paper you are putting out, he could be right.

If somebody wanted to put out a hyperlocal paper that was meant to give people only the news in their community -- and let them go elsewhere for national and international news -- they certainly wouldn't need AP.

Of course, you'd have to have the staff to fill the space that you'd hopefully have to fill because advertising sales were good for that kind of paper.

I work at a national website, and we've talked on and off about networks of stringers or whatever that would allow us to eliminate AP and give people unique stuff at every turn. But that's all it has ever been, talk. A lot of hurdles to something like that.

But it's not an unthinkable concept.

 

I believe the NBA standings should only be run occasionally.

 

Not at all.

It's a very simple concept. Don't run any AP -- no one buys your product or goes to your Web site to read AP stuff they can read anywhere else. The things that you think you *need* AP for is obtainable elsewhere.

 

ok, let me break it down for you. maybe you'll recognize the wording.

I hate to break this to you, but no one is buying your paper to read the same boxscores and press releases they can get for free on their cellphones.

does that sound familiar?

 

Yes, but it depends on the paper and it forces the paper to get original content from somewhere.

My paper can all but completely eliminate the wire service it uses because we use student writers to fill gaps caused by our limited staff. However, we can't cover everything and we do use it now as a supplement to our own coverage. Another paper probably isn't as lucky unless they have a huge stringer budget.

 

Count me among those who think it's more than a little bit ridiculous to toss AP out the window.

And the great fallacy is the argument that they can get this or that anywhere else.

Sure they can. But they can't get it anywhere else ALONG with our local coverage.

Very few readers want one or the other. They want a well-thought-out combination of the two.

 

I would just like AP in Kentucky to be, oh, I don't know, adequate. They didn't have the AP all-state football team until sometime in late January, and the AP hoops teams which is usually released by the state tournament, just wrapped up voting so who knows when they'll actually get around to releasing it.

And they just have all-around suckitude when it comes to actually doing stuff.

 

The problem might not be the AP specifically, remember, it's up to the members to vote for the teams, coaches, players, etc., so if they drag their feet voting, then the teams will come out late.

It's just like when you do your all-area teams and the coaches take forever to get back to you, then complain when the teams come out 3 weeks late.