AP: We Have Good News, Too

After my post earlier today about the Tribune Co.’s decision to go “AP Free” next week, a journalist friend emailed me, “Oh man, if AP were ever to fail …I fear the worst is yet to come …”

Later on, the AP’s Director of Media Relations, Paul Colford, contacted me to share some more encouraging news about the wire service. It turns out that, according to Editor & Publisher, 50 newspapers among the 130 or so who have indicated they intended to cancel the service during the past two years have rescinded those notices in recent months.

Although the AP does not routinely release information about business decisions by its member papers, these reportedly include the New York Daily News and the 18-daily Heartland Publications chain.

As Colford reminded me via email, “Newspapers make up roughly a quarter of AP’s diversified business, which also includes digital, video, U.S. Broadcast, international services, etc., etc.”

For the record, I am rooting for you, AP. We need you to stick around.

In addition, we have this from AP’s SVP Sue Cross today:

We see use of AP shift for many members, to faster, broader use online and in digital devices of many types, and to different types of packaging in print. We’re continually innovating and that will continue.  We’re creating regional desks that increase reporting and editing speed, providing news reports that fit new formats and consumer needs, and addressing new needs for content tracking and protection in the digital market.