There have been previous hints of US newspapers giving up on the Associated Press news agency. Now the revolt against AP is becoming a reality as more and more papers announce that they are dropping the service.
One of the largest chains, the Tribune Company, said last week that it would drop out of the association in order to cut costs. A handful of smaller papers have made the same move over the last few months. The savings can be substantial. The Columbus Dispatch said it will save more than $800,000 (£431,000) a year by pulling out.
Editors and publishers have not only criticised AP's charges. They argue that it delivers too little of what they need and is also acting as their competitor on the net.
But AP's executive editor Kathleen Carroll says the protests stem from "some element of misunderstanding about what AP is trying to do" and frustration over the papers' finances.
Contractually, papers must give two years' notice to drop the service, so those that recently opted out have until 2010 to change their minds. AP executives suspect that some papers are using that notice as leverage to bargain for lower rates. (Via New York Times)
