The Associated Press news agency is an American non commercial news agency based in New York City. Founded in 18 46, it is now a not for profit, joint organization. Its members are U.S. national newspapers and broadcasters. AP news releases, sent to its numerous members and subscribers, are generally written in English, Spanish and sometimes Arabic. Subscribers can gain access to AP news through online RSS feeds and through the AP News Service. AP News Service provides the AP with exclusive live updates of breaking news stories.
One of the major functions of AP News is that of disseminating press releases and breaking news reports to members of the media and the general public. This service is widely used by newspapers, radio stations, TV networks and other news organizations. AP news agencies provide in-depth reports on various topics and they are used for a variety of purposes. These can include breaking news reports and feature stories. They also publish a range of multimedia news stories, including video, images and reports on the latest happenings.
In the early part of this century, AP news agencies were established with the consolidation of all Associated Press holdings. At present, there are six AP bureaus. They are: the AP News Bureau, the AP Medical News Service, the Associated Press Development Agency, the Associated Press Education and Training Services, and the AP Environmental News Service. At present, there has been much criticism on the lack of objectivity in these bureaus and they are frequently accused of being liberal biased. Additionally, many people argue that the overall concentration of liberal news stories and slant of political information in these bureaus makes their reporting to be little more than a glorification of the news media. However, the AP has strenuously denied any charges of media bias.
There have been many cases over the years where AP News stories have been manipulated in order to promote a particular political candidate or a commercial enterprise. For instance, in 2020, AP News reporters took credit for locating People’s car in a mall parking lot after it was stolen. A week later, AP News published a story stating that the car had been recovered. The fact that a person had been held hostage inside the car and that the AP gave credit to the mall for finding it made the story more newsworthy and likely to boost their chances of winning the election. Therefore, there have been instances where AP News stories have been manipulated for political ends.
Throughout the April 2020 Editorial Review, there will be an examination of some AP News stories that have been controversial and have caused controversy. Two such stories that will be discussed in detail are the following: one concerning the candidate for President, Hillary Clinton; and another concerning newly minted President Trump. These two stories were controversial not only because of their subject but the AP failed to pick a side. Then, the AP tried to cast their vote as a result of a secret poll and the results came out almost evenly divided between Clinton and Trump. This story line was widely panned by the press and bloggers across the internet.
In the past, I have criticized the AP’s bias toward the Democrats. However, looking at the facts here, I believe that the AP has generally done a fairly good job of selecting stories that are based on fact instead of opinion. Therefore, I believe that they are likely to do a fine job in selecting the topics for the upcoming presidential elections.