Associated Press

The Associated Press (AP) is a not-for-profit news cooperative in which “members” of the cooperative are required to contribute and share news [Page 117]with the AP for mutual benefit. The AP serves as a central clearinghouse for that contributed member news. It also reports, writes, and produces news of its own for its members. The AP serves approximately 1,500 U.S. daily newspaper members, who are the primary stakeholders in the cooperative and who, through an elected board of directors from member news organizations, oversee the AP's organization, policy, and strategy. It also serves 5,000 radio and television broadcasters in the United States.

The AP also serves news organizations in more than 120 countries in five languages, and delivers news in multiple media formats for newspapers, radio stations, television stations, and online and wireless services. In 2007, more than 4,000 employees staffed more than 240 AP bureaus in 97 countries, making AP's reach and news dominance nearly unparalleled.

News delivered by the AP is normally marked with the AP dateline or “AP bug”: (AP). The dateline is an indication of the story's origin, such as “New York (AP)—.” AP correspondent names are included with AP produced reports, but are not required to be included in member-produced media. Thus, much of AP's staff is unknown to the public, leaving the AP as one of the last media organizations mostly untouched by the impact of celebrity journalism.

AP's dominance, traditions of objectivity, and speed in news gathering are well documented. Particularly in the United States, AP is a leading agenda setter for news, creating daily digests or lists of “top news items” in each state and for the nation and world that news editors use to determine the day's top stories. Because so much of the AP news report contains member-contributed news and because the AP serves so many diverse news organizations, AP editors strive to produce an unbiased news report that reflects the multiple viewpoints each story might require and that would appeal to the most members. Through an elaborate network of computers and satellites that reach both its bureaus and the news organizations it serves, the AP is able to receive breaking news within moments and redistribute that news to the globe. Thus, the story on a plane crash in a remote section of the United States might be reported by a small local member newspaper, shared with the Associated Press and sent worldwide within minutes, and even seconds. Because of its reputation for speed and reliability, news organizations around the world are often known to confidently attribute news to AP, particularly breaking news, with phrases such as, “According to the Associated Press …,” “The AP reports today …,” or “This just in from the Associated Press….”