Key Points
- The Associated Press plans to cut dozens of jobs as it shifts focus from local journalism to national coverage and digital platforms.
- AP will invest more in social video and new funding models while offering voluntary buyouts to staff.
- The move follows declining revenue from newspapers and changing audience consumption habits.
The Associated Press (AP) is planning to cut dozens of jobs as part of a broader restructuring of the company that shifts away from producing hyperlocal journalism in favor of national news coverage and emerging platforms like social video, according to a report published on Monday.
The report, from Axios, says the AP is dealing with sizable revenue cuts as local newspaper groups invest fewer dollars into the organization, which operates as a not-for-profit. Local newspaper revenue has dipped 25 percent over the past few years, and newspapers generate less than 10 percent of the organization’s overall revenue today, Axios noted.
Julie Pace, the Executive Editor at the AP, said the organization is profitable and its revenues are stable, but that audiences are getting their news from places other than newspapers — including digital platforms like websites and social media — which necessitates the reorganization.
The news outlet has also seen revenue climb from tech companies that license its wire stories and other materials to train large language models (LLMs), with the AP signing licensing deals with Google, ChatGPT developer OpenAI, Microsoft and Amazon over the past few years.
The AP will first offer voluntary buyouts to staffers at some of its news bureaus on Monday, but may shift to a layoff model if too few employees accept an offer to leave on their own, Axios reported.
The organization will still invest in local news to some degree, but will do so through a “new model,” Axios said. One of those models is to raise money through an independent, sister organization that helps fund state and local news by soliciting donations from the public.
The AP is also doubling down on its use of video journalists to produce more-visual coverage, executives said.
