“I wonder what percent of the news is simply gathered up from free sources already? It wouldn’t surprise me if the AP itself had to convert from paid subscriptions to sponsored advertisers in the not to distant future to survive too.”
Of real news, not the left wing PR BS, probably, a very large % comes individuals and free sources. That % is probably increasing each day.
A friend, who was a photographer for the Air Force and the local fishwrap before he retire a decade ago, hated AP. Apparently, they had some contractual right to whatever the local fishwrap published including any of his photos, which he didn’t get paid for nor did the story writer.
Apparently, much of AP’s so called journalism apparently comes from its customers. So as its customer base disappears, they will be more dependent on other “free/private” sources.