Associated Press


AP staff tweet and scoop the wire

The rules at Associated Press state that staff can’t break news via social media that isn’t yet on the wire. Which is why staff aren’t getting rapped over the knuckles for tweeting that an AP journo and photographer were arrested in the Occupy Wall St raid.

Media briefs: Ten axe swings … Age sub pub snub …

Lachlan Murdoch swung his axe today, announcing that dozens of editorial staff at Channel Ten will go and long-running nightly bulletin Sports Tonight seems certain to be cancelled. Plus, other media news of the day.

Fox News sneaks into the front row

After months of campaigning, Fox News will be getting a front row seat in the White House briefing room. But not Helen Thomas’ coveted front row centre seat, Associated Press has claimed that one.

Fact: people love the truth

Readers love cold, hard facts. ‘Fact Check’ articles by Associated Press — like this recent one debunking the myth of Elena Kagan as an “ivory-tower peacenik” — are the most popular AP online content.

Iggy Pop interviews Shepard Fairey

Ex-frontman of The Stooges Iggy Pop meets Shepard Fairey, the artist responsible for the iconic Barack Obama HOPE image. Iggy questions him about the AP case and choosing “hope” over “progress”.

AP reporter: How I got to watch a secret transfer of uranium to the US

AP journo Michael Warren tells the story behind writing this story on Chile handing over the last of weapons-grade uranium to US — standing inside a nuclear reactor, just feet away from weapons-grade uranium.

AP: Correction to a caption (68 years too late)

The Associated Press issues a correction to a photo caption from 1942 of an image previously thought to be of the Bataan Death March during WWII.

Howzat?! AP, Reuters, FP boycott Aussie cricket

News agencies the Associated Press, Reuters and Agence France-Presse are refusing to cover Australia’s three-test series against the West Indies in protest over Cricket Australia’s attempts to restrict their coverage of the event.

How the AP got the scoop on Sarah Palin’s new book

An internal memo from the Associated Press reveals how its intrepid reporters scored and scoured a copy of Sarah Palin’s bio five days early. The reporters responsible earned themselves a cool $500 reward for securing the news agency’s “Beat of the Week”.

The axe drops at the Associated Press

Heads have begun to roll at US-based newswire service the Associated Press, as the agency attempts to cut its costs by 10%.

No hope for Obama artist fraud

Artist Shepard Fairey — creator of the iconic Barack Obama ‘Hope’ poster — has admitted that he knowingly submitted fake evidence in his legal case with Associated Press in an attempt to conceal his use of a copyrighted Obama photo.

What happens when war gets photographed

A photo of a dying US marine in Afghanistan was plastered across newspapers this week. With support for the war dwindling, will it provoke the same outrage that the flag draped coffins of US marines killed in Iraq did?

Was the AP right to publish a soldier’s dying hours?

The AP has come under some heavy fire for publishing a photo of a deceased US soldier shortly after he was fatally wounded by a grenade in Afghanistan. The NYT’s Lens blog looks at the ethics and precedent of going public with such a private moment.

Reuters to AP: “stop whining”

Since the AP fell out of favour with the internet over their intention to charge for links and quotes to their content, the president of rival wire agency Reuters seems to have seen a golden opportunity: “I believe in the link economy,” he declares, giving the finger to “whiny” AP. Game on.

News outlets censor killer’s racist rant

The AP and other news outlets have omitted racist comments and references to US President Barack Obama when publishing excerpts from the diary of gunman George Sodini, who opened fire on a Pittsburgh fitness center yesterday, killing four women.

Tell ‘im he’s dreamin’: AP quote $2.50 per word

Wire Service The Associated Press don’t like people getting something for nothing, and are now charging websites and news outlets to quote from its articles, with prices ranging from $12.50 for five words to $100 for 251 words or more.

AP: enemy of freedom or just misunderstood?

The internet exploded in a storm of indignation with news that the Associated Press plans to digitally track and protect all its online content. But is the AP really the greedy News Nazi it’s being made out to be?

Leaked: AP’s staff social media guidelines

Reading companies’ social media guidelines is always fun (and no, we don’t have any beyond using it constantly and gratuitously). Valleywag got their mitts on the Associated Press’ slightly “paranoid” rules for their staff.

AP to distribute nonprofits’ investigative journalism

The Associated Press will deliver work by four nonprofit investigative journalism organisations as part of their service, expanding the groups’ audiences and plugging a content and staffing gap for the wire service.