AP Reveals Staff Cuts Due to Customer Base Changes
The Associated Press is planning staff cuts to its U.S. workforce, according to a story from Axios. This is part of a broader restructuring “away from hyper-local print coverage and toward video and national topics,” according to executive editor Julie Pace and global chief revenue officer Kristin Heitmann. It’s not surprising that the AP’s revenue from
U.S. newspapers has shrunk, but right now it accounts for less than 10% of total revenue. In fact, “Revenue from that cohort has declined 25% over the past few years, while revenue from tech companies has grown roughly 200%.” The story goes on to note, “Over the past few years, the AP’s business has evolved to become less reliant on local newspaper revenue and more reliant on a broader set of customers, including digital outlets, broadcasters and non-news companies.” See the Axios piece here.

“weaponizing language through their stylebook to push a partisan worldview in contrast with the traditional and deeply held beliefs of many Americans and many people around the world.” RTDNA president and CEO Dan Shelley states, “The current White House moves targeting one of the world’s oldest and most respected news outlets are outrageous and unacceptable. It is the Trump administration, and not the Associated Press, that is trying to contort facts so that they align with its often divisive, and sometimes completely erroneous, version of the truth. We protest the administration’s actions in this instance and object to its effort to shape shift legitimate fact-based journalism to better resemble its alternative versions of the truth.”
content through financial resources, direct or indirect political pressures, and/or control over production and distribution.” Twitter owner Elon Musk replied to NPR’s protestations with two words – “Seems accurate.” NPR president and CEO John Lansing said the company was disturbed to see the “state-affiliated Media” tag slapped on its tweets and calls it “unacceptable for Twitter to label us this way.”