Bankrupt Tribune Co. Experiments Going "AP-Free"
In the latest blow to the beleaguered Associated Press news cooperative, The Tribune Co., which owns and operates nine daily newspapers, including the Los Angeles Times and the Chicago Tribune, said it is starting an experiment to determine whether it can go “AP-free.”
This news came via a Tribune blog post late Monday night. Blogger Phil Rosenthal wrote that, “The Chicago Tribune and other Tribune Co. newspapers plan to utilize as little content from the Associated Press as practical during the week of Nov. 8. The goal, as the papers review costs and needs, is to see whether severing ties with the news cooperative next fall is a viable option…”
The experiment comes roughly a year after the company gave AP the required two-year notice of its intention to cancel the service altogether.
“Besides the content provided by the staff of its own titles,” Rosenthal states, “Tribune Co. newspapers will draw from such news sources as Reuters, the Washington Post, New York Times, Agence France Presse, Cable News Network, Global Post, Bloomberg and McClatchy newspapers during its AP-less trial.”
Meanwhile, the Tribune Co, which was the first big U.S. newspaper company to seek bankruptcy late in 2008, remains stuck in disputes between CEO Sam Zell and its bondholders. Real-estate mogul Zell has long since admitted that acquiring and privatizing the Tribune chain was a mistake.
The AP, meanwhile, has been struggling along with its member papers in the devastating slump that has decimated ad revenues across the industry. Its board had to rescind an announced fee increase earlier this year, and AP executives have repeatedly issued outlandish statements (see below) about their intent to punish those who supposedly use AP content without paying for it online.
Various sources indicate that the latest indications are that a round of layoffs will occur at AP before the end of this year.
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AP’s Top News Stories for August 5th, in Four Words Or Less
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In addition to serving as a BNET Media analyst/blogger, David Weir is a veteran journalist and the author of several books. Weir is a co-founder and vice-president of the Center for Investigative Reporting, as well as an editorial board member of The Nation.
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