The AP annual meeting is a regular feature of the NAA, the theory being that most of the publishers and execs attending have a reason to be at both. A large part of the session went to remarks and q-and-a by satellite with U.S. Army General David H. Petraeus in Iraq—newsmakers also are part of the tradition—but Tom Curley, president of the AP, got in a few words as did outgoing chairman Burl Osborne.

Curley said digital will account for nearly 20 percent of the AP’s revenue this year; that’s up from 13-14 percent. Incoming chairman William Dean Singleton told me later most of the digital revenue comes from non-AP members. (One of the best lines from Curley: “Dean not only believes in newspapers, he’s still buying them at a premium.”)

More from Curley: AP has agreed to freeze basic assessments for domestic members and to present to the board by 2009 a plan that will allow members to better tailor services to their own needs instead of the three sizes fits all currently used.

—AP is rolling out more tools and services—AP 2.0—for clients to improve their own web presence and syndication. A site in beta is designed to help make their own content easier to find online; the beta group will be expanded throughout the year with launch in early 2008.

—AP will offer customized multimedia search and an enhanced video player for uplaoding.

—More than 1,000 newspapers are part of AP’s online video network.

—AP will digitize, host and share revenues from 250 photos of member’s choice.

More details from AP’s Seth Sutel.