Posted on 02/04/2008 1:34:31 PM PST by abb
In the wake of the controversy over a new Associated Press rate structure, which has prompted a small outcry from two groups of editors who want lower rates, the New York Daily News has revealed it canceled its AP service a year ago.
The Daily News confirmed Monday that it advised AP more than a year ago that it would no longer be a member of the news cooperative. Under AP policy, members must give two years notice of plans to drop the service, meaning the Daily News will no longer receive AP core services in early 2009.
“Over a year ago, the Daily News gave notice to the AP that we were terminating our membership agreement and access to their services," Daily News spokeswoman Jennifer Mauer wrote in a statement to E&P. "We will continue to explore ways that we can work together in the future, including a recently signed agreement to receive the AP’s Election coverage."
Ed Fay, Daily News vice president of editorial administration, said the decision to drop AP was in protest of the two-year termination policy. "It is all about term with us," he said. "We hope that over the next several months we can negotiate to maintain our relationship."
Fay said the newspaper had already cancelled its sports statistics and business stocks service but was continuing to run stocks under a temporary extension agreement.
Mauer added that "in a changing media world, it is essential that the Daily News explore new sources of information that relate to our editorial needs for both print and web.”
Word of the termination comes just days after revelations that a dispute had erupted over a new AP rate structure plan, which will be implemented in 2009 and has sparked an outcry from two groups of editors who have written to complain about AP rates in recent months. Despite those complaints, the AP Board last week formally approved the new structure that will expand breaking news offerings to core members, but put some other content on an a la carte service.
AP officials have said the new structure will likely mean little change in costs for most newspapers, claiming about $6 million in savings will be seen by newspapers overall.
AP Regional Vice President Linda Stowell, whose clients include the Daily News, said that paper's termination notice is not related to the rate structure changes. "It is about contract terms. They want certain contract lengths and we are working on it with them," she said. "It is not about price or service or content."
Stowell added that termination notices, while not common, often end with a member returning to the cooperative. "We get notices of cancellation from members, they get resolved and that is what we expect to happen here."
One ironic twist, the Daily News and AP headquarters are located in the same New York City building on Manhattan's west side.
ping
Woo Hoo!
Bias = Layoffs.
But, did the Daily News replace AP with someone else? If so, hope it wasn’t Rooters - since they are even to the left of AP.
This is the best news you have ever posted.
Wow, that’s interesting — have any other major papers done this? (Or is it simply they’re switching to Reuters, which I didn’t see noted in the article).
Why should a local paper report waste column inches and money buying wire pulp anyway, which is available in a million other places.\
Others should follow suit. AP Washington bureau is a leftist enclave.
Looks like the price of Amalgamated Propaganda(AP) is going up.
Lefties’ lack of understanding market forces does them in—again.
I LIKE that acronym!
Yep. The notion that somebody is going to rely on the dead-tree media for all their news is an obsolete concept. If I want the latest news from the Mideast, I am not going to bother looking in The Daily News. I will buy that paper for their unique content, like their original reporting or Mike Lupica or their columnists. Warmed over filler pieces can be found any of a thousand places, for free, on the web. Why would I pay money for that?
Don’t know if the NY Daily News will use Reuters or if any other newspapers will follow suit. One certainly hopes it’s the start of a trend.
The AP is a co-operative. That is it recycles stories from member news gatherers and regurgitates them back out to whoever wants them.
I can remember a time when AP was pretty much in the middle of the road. But in recent years, they are as far left as Reuters or AFP or any of the other news services.
I think AP had more terrorist stringers and photographers in Iraq than any of them.
How could you tell? This is not a trick question...
Cancelled AP? How will they get their DNC press releases?
When a photographer can stand there and watch terrorists execute people right in front of him, or when he can stand there and photograph a couple of guys with a shoulder missile launcher waiting for a helicopter to come by, or when he repeatedly fakes news stories about dead children killed by our soldiers, then you figure he’s a terrorist.
And I’m sure AP knows it. Unless their guys had terrorist connections, they wouldn’t have been safe walking the streets during the worst days.
LOL! What I meant (and should have said) is how can you tell if AP’s terrorists were any worse than the terrorists who report for Reuters or AFP - or ABCCBSNBCCNN?
Sometimes I hear people saying that CBS is worst, or Reuters is worst, or CNN is worst, or whatever. But they all seem to be equally bad. I guess probably I have read more miserably biased AP stories than any others because they have a bigger operation.
When you have Charles Rangel, Chuck Schumer, and Bill Clinton right up the street from your operation, who needs the AP to manufacture news?
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