Research Blog

Eryn Akers

Many newspapers use wire services to provide readers with national and international news that locally they 
might not have access to. This service has historic roots, beginning with the formation of the Associated Press. This blog compiles the way in which it came into existence and what implications it has on the journalistic realm. 

After the Civil War, with the introduction of the telegraph, newspapers became increasingly competitive to report a broad range of news, and at faster speeds. Oliver Gramling writes in "AP: the Story of News" that all the New York papers paid the full telegraph rate and arranged for the delivered news independently. However, there was “only one wire available to serve all the New York papers” (Gramling, 20). Additionally, papers had to take 15-minute rotations at the telegraph Newspapers that retrieved the news last were often too late. The Harbor News Association was founded in New York to retrieve international ships carrying news from Europe (Bleyer, 402). The Harbor News Association and the Telegraphic and General News Association was combined into the General News Association of the City of New York (Bleyer, 402).

Figure 1: This image shows the historical logos used by the Associated Press.
According to their website, the most recent design reflects the technological shift to online media.
Source: http://www.objectivesubject.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/AP-Visual-History.jpg

For the consolidation, ten men representing six New York Newspapers met in an office at the New York Sun in May of 1848. Of them, Gramling writes that “some were belligerent, some were conciliatory, some were unconcerned, and some were worried” (Gramling, 19). The Herald, Courier and Eunquirer, the Journal of Commerce, the Tribune, the Sun, and the Express all incorporated into the Associated Press. The intent of the collaboration was to split expenses evenly among the group and allow equal access to the news. By 1851, plans were forming to sell the collected news to other newspapers. The same year the New York Times joined the Associated Press (Shmanske 61).

Figure 2: Gramling, in AP: The Story of News depicts the six newspaper representatives discussing formation of the Associated Press  (Gramling, 21).

The Press began sending news to various regions and local newspapers there would split the cost of expenses. Thus the Western Associated Press, North-western Associated Press, New England Associated Press and the Philadelphia Associated press arose in their respective regions (Shamanke 62). Eventually, many organizations merged.

Figure 3: The AP follows the style guidelines as listed in the Associated  Press Style Book when reporting and writing for news outlets. According to the AP, the first style book was printed in 1953.
Source: http://jillvanwyke.com/2010/06/23/old-school-journalism-ap-stylebook-history/

The Associated Press also partnered with international newspapers to provide global coverage. Such advances pushed a rival of the AP, the United Press, to go under in 1897 (Associated Press).

Today, the Associated Press has 15,000 news outlets in 112 nations, and has won the Pulitzer Prize 43 times (Liddell). According to the company’s website, the AP is a non-profit owned by the 1,400 U.S. newspaper members. The Associated Press supplies over 65 percent of the content present in daily newspapers (Alabiso, 18). In “Flash! The Associated Press Covers the World!” Alabiso et al. writes, “the AP news report has become the blood that flows through the body of American journalism, an essential component in the nation’s news day” (Alabiso, 17). 
Click here for 1901 Associated Press articles
Click here for 1856 Associated Press article
Click here for the Associated Press website

Works Cited

Alabiso , V., Smith Tunney, K., & Zoeller, C. (1998). Flash! the associated press covers

                  the world . Harry N. Abrams

Associated press. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.questia.com/library

                  /communication/journalism/associated-press

G. Bleyer, W. (1927). Main currents in the history of american journalism . Cambridge,

                   MA: The Riverside Press Cambridge.

Gramling, O. (1940). Ap the story of news. New York, NY: Farrar and Rinehart, Inc.

Liddell, M. A. (1998). The AP looks back. Smithsonian, 29(2), 108.

Marietta daily leader. (Marietta, Ohio) 1895-1906, June 29, 1901, Image 1. Retrieved from     http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn87075213/1901-06-29/ed-1/seq-1/

Nashville daily patriot. (Nashville, Tenn.) 1855-1857, July 03, 1856, Image 3.  Retrieved from    http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn86053516/1856-07-03/ed-1/seq-3/

Perrucci, D. (1997). Celebrating AP's 150 years. Editor & Publisher, 130(47), 20.

Shmanske, S. (1986). News as a Public Good: Cooperative Ownership, Price Commitments,

                   and the Success of the Associated Press. Business History Review, 60(1), 55-80.

Silberstein-Loeb, J. (2012). Exclusivity and Cooperation in the Supply of News: The Example

of the Associated Press, 1893–1945. Journal Of Policy History, 24(3), 

466-498.    doi:10.1017/S0898030612000140