By: Industry Observer

Industry Observer — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 09:01:40 +0000

It's obvious that AP does not WANT to continue to be a cooperative. If that's the case then they should take on some debt and buy out the members — or they should go public and let its member sell off it's stock.

This namby-pambying around with being a non-profit "cooperative" and jerking around its members so obviously and fully is an amazing thing to watch.

By: Managing Editor

Managing Editor — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 07:13:44 +0000

Here's what the AP needs to do in order keep U.S. newspapers as members:
- Cut my rates at least 30 percent. That is what we are being asked to do across the board and what we are asking from other vendors. The bulk of the AP report is now on every Web site in the world so it just isn't as valuable as it once was.
- Before you cut a single reporter, cut the scores of supervisors, managers, directors, VPs and SVPs in NYC.
- Give me a handful of stories I can use each day that have NOT been on the Internet all day long. Why would I use an AP story in print my readers have already seen online the previous day? At least if we use Bloomberg, LAT-WP, Reuters, MCT our readers will be probably get something new.

There's more, like properly crediting newspapers for their work when distributing to online outlets, but this a start.

Comments on: Interview: AP Execs Explain Strategic Change — And What It Might Cost The Co-Op And Its Members

By: Industry Observer

By: Managing Editor