Tag Archives: The Associated Press

AP (via Captured Photos): Why the AP published images of a fatally wounded marine

The Associated Press (AP) has explained its decision last week to publish an image of Lance Corporal Joshua M. Bernard, a US marine fatally wounded in combat in Afghanistan.

According to reports, the soldier’s family did not want the photo in question to be published.

The AP has also confirmed it received a letter from US defence secretary Robert Gates asking the agency not to publish it.

Now the agency has explained its decision – including the following from the AP’s director of photography, Santiago Lyon:

“AP journalists document world events every day. Afghanistan is no exception. We feel it is our journalistic duty to show the reality of the war there, however unpleasant and brutal that sometimes is.”

Full story at this link…

New York Times: AP to distribute non-profit journalism

The Associated Press has signed a deal to distribute the work of of four non-profit journalism groups.

Work by the Center for Public Integrity, the Investigative Reporting Workshop at American University, the Center for Investigative Reporting, and ProPublica will be free for publication by the agency’s 1,500 newspaper members.

Full story at this link…

RCFP: AP’s ‘hot news’ claim will go forward in court

From the Reporters’ Committee for Freedom of the Press last week: “A federal court in New York on Tuesday refused to dismiss a lawsuit by The Associated Press that claims a competing news service, All Headline News Corp., misappropriated its news content by drafting stories based on AP reports.” The AP had filed suit against a company, which it claims copied and rewrote AP stories. Full story at this link…

Traffic success for AP’s mobile news network

The Associated Press‘ mobile news network – launched by the agency in May – attracted 16 million page views in August, according to a report from MediaBistro.com.

The post states that 95 per cent of traffic to the network is generated by iPhone and iPod touch users.

The network, which features national news from the AP and local content from regional news organisations, now boasts 948 partners.

Local advertising on the service is sold by the news organisations, in addition to national advertising from networks, with any revenues split between news providers and ad sellers

AP offers digital analysis to members as papers bypass agency content

The Associated Press (AP) is to give its newspaper partners access to reports on digital trends in the industry, in an arrangement with research firm Outsell Inc.

A release from the AP said the free service will help newspapers to understand online developments, such as web traffic measurement and online advertising issues.

Reports will be sent out quarterly and are free to AP member papers as part of the agency’s new Innovation Toolkit service.

In recent weeks a host of US newspapers have served notice on their membership with the AP, as the Editors Weblog reports, most responding to recent changes in pricing by the agency.

Some papers have grouped together to bypass AP content, while according to BuzzMachine.com, New Jersey’s Star-Ledger published an entirely AP-free edition yesterday.

A comment from Paul Colford, from the AP’s corporate communications department, on the BuzzMachine post said:

“We understand that The Star-Ledger and the media industry as a whole are facing difficult financial challenges and that in this environment many newspapers are experimenting with news priorities and with their presentation of news. The Associated Press has been working with all members of the cooperative, including The Star-Ledger, to determine their needs and to ensure that the AP news report retains its value to them and their readers. Member Choice, the content and pricing initiative rolled out this summer, was in fact developed as a response to member requests for simpler content and pricing options.”

Associated Press launches celebrity news service

The Associated Press (AP) has launched a celebrity news service to expand its coverage of entertainment news.

Celebrity Extra, which includes video footage, is the result of a multi-million dollar investment by the agency, a press release from AP said.

New staff have been hired to work on the service and new video production technology has been bought for its Los Angeles, New York and London bureaux.

A photo version of the service will launch in September.

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Forbes: AP wants a button on iPhone home screen

The Associated Press wants to grab itself a prime piece of technological real estate, it announced last week that it wants an AP button on the iPhone start-up page for quick access to news.

“There was a button for stocks, there was a button for weather, but there was no button for news,” says Jeffrey Litvack, director of global product development with the AP.

According to Forbes, the AP wants to be the organisation to run any ‘news’ button.

The AP launched its Mobile News Network last week.

Litvack says it can distribute stories from AP reporters and over 100 papers in a single service. He’s hoping its perfect for the iPhone and that Apple is listening.