Associated Press

The Associated Press is a not-for-profit news cooperative, owned by its member newspapers, radio stations, and television broadcasters. Founded in 1846 by five New York City dailies, it operates as a shared resource where members both contribute and receive news. The AP's global reach is unmatched, with journalists in nearly 100 countries and bureaus in over 250 locations. Its news wire feeds thousands of outlets worldwide, making it the backbone of modern journalism. The AP is also famous for its Stylebook, the go-to reference for grammar and usage in most U.S. newsrooms, and for its election race-calling service, which the public relies on for accurate results on election night.

The cooperative model keeps the AP independent from government and corporate control. Its revenue comes from member fees and content licensing, totaling about $510 million in 2023. The organization employs roughly 3,000 people, including around 1,500 journalists. The AP has won 60 Pulitzer Prizes, with 36 for photography, and its archives hold millions of images that document world history. In recent years, the AP has embraced AI, partnering with OpenAI to license its archive while also building tools to help its reporters with transcription and data analysis.[edit]

The AP's mission is to be the essential global news network, providing accurate, unbiased, and fast news to its members and customers. It supports a free press by gathering and distributing news independently, without government or corporate influence. The AP is guided by a strict commitment to factual reporting and journalistic ethics, encapsulated in its Statement of News Values and Principles.[edit]

Five New York City newspapers pooled resources in 1846 to share the cost of covering the Mexican-American War via the Pony Express. That cooperative arrangement became the Associated Press. The AP quickly expanded, using the telegraph from 1914 to speed news transmission. In 1935, it launched Wirephoto, a service that sent photographs over telephone lines, revolutionizing visual journalism.

The AP's coverage of World War II set a global standard. Its reporters and photographers were on the front lines, and the wire service became the primary source of war news for American newspapers. The AP won its first Pulitzer in 1917 and has since accumulated 60. In the 1990s, it launched AP Online, its first digital news service. The 2000s brought digital transformation under CEO Tom Curley, and the AP began aggressively licensing its content online. In 2022, Daisy Veerasingham became the first woman and person of color to lead the organization. The AP now faces the AI era, developing tools to assist journalists while protecting its copyrights.[edit]