NEW YORK (AP) — The media corporate Gannett, the country’s greatest newspaper chain and writer of USA These days, mentioned Tuesday it could prevent the usage of journalism from The Related Press later this month, severing a century-old partnership.The verdict “permits us to take a position additional in our newsrooms,” Gannett spokeswoman Lark-Marie Anton mentioned. With greater than 200 retailers, the chain represents extra newspapers than every other corporate in AP’s U.S. club. A memo from Gannett’s leader content material officer Kristin Roberts directed the chain’s editors to prevent the usage of tales, movies and photographs equipped by way of AP on March 25. The memo, got by way of The Related Press, used to be first reported by way of The New York Instances.“We’re surprised and disenchanted to look this memo,” mentioned AP spokeswoman Lauren Easton. “Our conversations with Gannett had been productive and ongoing. We stay hopeful that Gannett will proceed to improve the AP past the top in their club time period on the finish of 2024, as they’ve achieved for over a century.”
Neither corporate would talk about how a lot Gannett has been paying to obtain AP content material.In an previous generation, when charges from U.S. newspapers equipped AP with just about all of its earnings, this kind of resolution would have represented a monetary earthquake for the inside track cooperative. However AP has varied its services and products with the decline of newspapers and U.S. newspaper charges now represent simply over 10% of its annual source of revenue.
Gannett mentioned that it has signed an settlement with Reuters to supply information from world wide in more than one codecs, together with video.
“Key to this initiative is making sure that we lengthen the succeed in of the paintings we do to extra readers, audience and listeners national,” Roberts mentioned in her memo.AP’s diversification efforts come with providing its journalism at once to customers via an advertising-supported website online. The corporate additionally supplies manufacturing services and products and tool to newsrooms internationally. This week, AP introduced an e-commerce web page referred to as AP Buyline, run by way of the corporate Taboola, that gives product content material and evaluations for customers.
Gannett mentioned it could proceed paying for 2 of AP’s maximum visual services and products: its in depth election-related polling and vote-counting, and the AP Stylebook that units tips for journalism practices and phrase utilization.With a freelance for AP’s content material that lasts to the top of 2024, it used to be no longer transparent why Gannett is opting for to chop issues off subsequent week. Whilst there stays the chance that it represents a negotiating tactic for AP to decrease its charges, Anton mentioned she used to be no longer acutely aware of any contract negotiations.Like maximum newspaper firms, Gannett has been suffering financially for a number of years. The team of workers shrank 47% between 2020 and 2023 as a result of layoffs and attrition, in step with the NewsGuild.
