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My paper's dropping the AP wire - has yours?

Discussion in 'Journalism topics only' started by Cadet, Jul 3, 2007.

  1. Cadet

    Cadet Guest

    Publisher announced today that we will be discontinuing our AP wire service. Everything in our (admittedly small) paper will be Local and generated by our staff.

    I'd say 80 percent of what we run is staff-generated anyway, but it's so nice to have wire copy to plug that gaping hole as deadline approaches. Now we'll just be SOL. Plus sports won't have access to prep scores from around the state or news from the state universities.

    Clearly, this is a cost-cutting measure. But is this too drastic? Have other papers dropped wire service?
     
  2. Johnny Dangerously

    Johnny Dangerously Well-Known Member

    Wow. I don't know what to say.

    Yes, yes, I do. They're going to resubscribe to the AP wire when they realize it's cheaper and logistically easier than hiring the extra personnel they'll need to generate the copy and agate to fill the holes the current staff isn't going to be able to fill 100 percent of the time.
     
  3. Sxysprtswrtr

    Sxysprtswrtr Active Member

    That or the paper will be reduced to 2-page sections, and circulation hits the toilet.
     
  4. slappy4428

    slappy4428 Active Member

    What utopia is THAT?

    Publisher: "We're dropping AP. You need to fill your section."
    Editor: "Umm, we're going to need more bodies for more stories."
    Publisher: "You'll get nothing and like it. Your people will just have to work harder."
     
  5. Cadet

    Cadet Guest

    That's exactly how that conversation went, Slappy. News is doing OK this summer with the added help of an intern, but once that person is gone in four weeks it will be a nightmare to fill the pages.
     
  6. Inky_Wretch

    Inky_Wretch Well-Known Member

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    Last edited by a moderator: Dec 15, 2014
  7. JBHawkEye

    JBHawkEye Well-Known Member

    God help us if we ever make that decision.
     
  8. fishwrapper

    fishwrapper Active Member

    I've always found the Associated Press Wire Service to be superfluous.
     
  9. Johnny Dangerously

    Johnny Dangerously Well-Known Member

    Four weeks after that, there will be another conversation. And another after that. This won't last unless the publisher is happy watching sales drop, quality suffer and ad rates eventually fall, and drop, and suffer, and fall ...

    Utopian thinking? Nope. Real world. This is not going to last without giving the current staff additional help. No way.

    Please promise us updates, Cadet (if you have a free moment in the next 6 months).
     
  10. bigbadeagle

    bigbadeagle Member

    One of my many stops suspended the wire some years ago. We were faced with a decision - cut the wire or cut a person. Our publisher, a truly unique and eccentric individual who actually taught me a lot about newspapers, decided to cut the wire. We became 100 percent local at that point, even in the midst of our town making national/international news. It was a military town in the middle of a mass combat deployment. That means ad revenues dry up overnight. We made it work.
    And brother, it was work.
     
  11. joe_schmoe

    joe_schmoe Active Member

    I'm curious if this is a daily paper, twice weekly or what.
    Not an easy task for a daily to drop AP, but it can be done. Does depend on size. I've seen a couple 4 page dailes (T-S, basically) with no wire.
    Just do a lot of features and have them in the bag ready to roll.
     
  12. Johnny Dangerously

    Johnny Dangerously Well-Known Member

    It's those 3-inch, 5-inch, 8-inch holes that are going to become a problem.

    You'll need to start running BIGGER PHOTOS too.
     
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