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GRADE: 46.3% F

Stories:

 

  1. Israel vows harsh response to synagogue attack

  2. No on Keystone pipeline_but GOP vows replay

  3. Gun sales surge ahead of jury’s Ferguson decision

  4. Model-TV Host Dickinson accuses Cosby of assault

  5. Safety agency to push for national air bag recall

  6. Senate blocks NSA phone records measure

  7. Cuba says doctor catches Ebola in Sierra Leone

  8. 4 deaths blamed on major New York snow storm

  9. Fracking to be permitted in GW National Forest

  10. Peru attacks illegal mining ahead of climate talks

Day 1: November 18, 2014

Day 2: November 19, 2014

Stories:

 

  1. Obama spurns GOP with expansive immigration offers

  2. Florida women latest to accuse Cosby of forced sex

  3. 10 things to know for Friday

  4. Roofs collapse as Buffalo clobbered by more snow

  5. UK Police spied on reporters for years, doc shows

  6. Senators get no clear answers on air bag safety

  7. Florida state trooper was well-liked but troubled

  8. BOKO Haram said to kill about 45 people in Nigeria

  9. Union: Charges seem unlikely for Ferguson officer

  10. Raiders snap 16-game skid with 24-20 win vs KC

GRADE: 50% F

Day 3: November 20, 2014

Stories:

 

  1. Stymied? Republicans seek immigration response

  2. With snow still piled high, Buffalo faces flooding

  3. More Cosby shows cancelled as women allege rape

  4. Islamic State group’s drive for Kobani blunted

  5. Bill Cosby controversy: A decade in the making

  6. House Intel panel debunks many Benghazi theories

  7. Iran nuke talks stalled, despite Kerry efforts

  8. $139M deal reached in school molestation case

  9. Bandits in Guinea steal suspected Ebola blood

GRADE: 56.3% F

Analysis

Who owns them?

The Associated Press is “ a not-for-profit news cooperative owned by its American newspaper and broadcast members,” according to AP’s website (2014). It is an independent publication that is dictated by the the people it serves. It is not owned by any other business and its sole goal is to inform the public in a timely manner (AP, 2014). The agency produces thousands of stories a day and reaches just as many people through its various broadcast, text and other pieces (AP, 2014). The agency is run by “1,400 U.S. daily newspapers that are AP members. These members elect a board of directors that directs the cooperative.” The current board of directors is run by Mary Junck, the chairman. The vice chairman is currently Jon Rust.  

 

How many are owned by the same parent company?

The Associated Press is not owned by any specific parent company, However they have 282 stations in 110 countries, it has 11 regional editing “hubs” and it serves over 3.5 billion people a day through 15,000 news outlets worldwide (Associated Press, 2014).

 

Are any owned by independent sources?

The Associated Press is an independent source in and of itself. It is not part of a larger company and reports independent of any sponsor.

 

What is their annual revenue?

According to the 2014 audit report, the Associated Press’ revenue for the 2014 year was $595,745,000.

 

Where do they get their revenue from?

According to their website, 84 percent of AP’s revenue came from content licensing. AP’s Global Media Services accounted for 7 percent of the revenue, while 6 percent came from the mobile app and 3 percent came from advertising and other sources (Associated Press, 2014).

 

What’s their reader/viewer share?

The Associated Press reaches over 3 billion people a day (Associated Press, 2014). According to their website, 45 percent of this audience is reached through television, 26 percent through newspaper, 10 percent through Internet, seven percent through agency, five percent through radio and seven percent through other means.

 

Is there a particular story that “made” this news venue particular popular?

The Associated Press was founded in 1846 when five newspapers conglomerated to create a pony express route in order to increase news reporting and promptness on the Mexican War (Associated Press, 2014). Since then, the AP has increased its reporting to reach over a hundred countries. It has been the “first to tell the world of many of history’s most important moments,” according to its website.

 

Was there a story that this news venue is particular well known for scooping?

There is no particular story that made this news outlet infamous for scooping stories. According to the Encyclopedia Britannica (2014), it is the oldest and largest news organizations in the United States.

 

How does the news site frame itself?

The Associated Press frames itself as a leader in delivering news to a worldwide audience. It discusses some of its major successes and achievements in the field of journalism. It is proud of its history and pins its success to its ability to “adapt quickly to new technologies.” It paints itself as one of the oldest leaders in the field who is still on the cutting-edge of the industry.

 

How is it perceived (conservative/liberal/moderate/completely unreliable/well-respected for fairness/etc)?

The Associated Press is a well-respected publication and news organization. It has won 51 Pulitzers (Pulitzer Prizes, 2014) since the beginning of the award. It has a reputation for being reliable and honest. In fact, the Associated Press is so well respected that its style of writing has been compiled into a book known as the “journalist’s Bible” (AP Styelbook, 2014). This book is the standard for journalists everywhere.

 

 

 

 

I was excited to analyze the Associated Press. I have always held the news agency in very high regard and respected the work they produce. I thought the organization would receive high marks. The result surprised me. The organization failed all three days that I analyzed it. However, while I was reading each article I was satisfied with the work of the news group. The news wire contained many notable, important stories that were quality work. I determined that the failure was due to a lack of diversity and not clearly labelling sources, the same as the other newswire that was analyzed. This seemed to be a common thread among the newswires.

 

 

The Associated Press is a well-respected publication that is often reprinted in newpapers and published on websites across the nation. Their reputation precedes their work. They did do quality reporting. Most of the work produced by the Associated Press was on core topics. The organization had very limited peripheral stories. It did report on major buzz topics that weren’t necessarily very important, such as the Bill Cosby scandal. However, the news organization was trying to maintain a balance of entertaining and informative pieces. John McManus (2012) discusses that newspapers are a business and have to keep an audience engaged and interested (pg. 84).

 

The organization was very fair and objective in their reporting. They looked at other sides of issues and attempted to not focus specifically on one angle of a story. Something that greatly surprised me about the organization was their portrayal of women. I analyzed 30 stories by the Associated Press. Among these 30 stories there were less than 10 women quoted as a major source in the article. I didn’t expect that women wouldn’t be given an equal voice. The AP had a similar problem as Reuters -- they showed an access bias and preferred to quote powerful people. Powerful people quoted in the article tended to be men. When the story was specifically about a female the Associated Press fairly covered the issue, but it did not seek out a diversity in gender.This was the biggest surprise to me about the news organization.

 

Overall, AP did well on producing newsworthy, impactful stories. It was fair and objective. However, it lacked diversity and clear labelling of sources. If the news organization would clearly name each story, the reliability of the articles would increase. Also, the news organization should seek out a greater female voice. This would drastically improve the quality of the reporting and improve the grade of the newswire.

 

(Associated Press, 2014)

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