In May 1846, five New York City newspapers banded together to share the crushing cost of transmitting news about the Mexican, American War, creating an entity that would eventually become the Associated Press. Before this cooperative venture, each paper had to pay individually for telegraph lines to receive updates from distant battlefields, a financial burden that threatened their survival. Moses Yale Beach, the second publisher of The Sun, organized the initial meeting alongside representatives from The New York Herald, the New York Courier and Enquirer, The Journal of Commerce, and the New York Evening Express. This group, initially known as the New York Associated Press, operated as a cooperative unincorporated association, allowing them to pool resources and distribute news more efficiently to their members. The New York Times joined the fold in September 1851, and the organization began to expand its reach beyond the immediate needs of the war. The venture was a pragmatic response to the high costs of early telecommunications, proving that collaboration could be more profitable than competition in the nascent news industry. The AP's early days were defined by this shared economic necessity, setting a precedent for its future as a cooperative rather than a traditional corporation.
Wireless Wires And The Wirephoto Revolution
The Associated Press revolutionized the speed of news delivery by adopting the teleprinter in 1914, a technology that transmitted directly to printers over telegraph wires at a speed of 60 words per minute. This innovation allowed the agency to build a worldwide network of machines that could process information faster than any competitor. In 1935, the AP launched the Wirephoto network, the world's first wire service for photographs, which transmitted news images over leased private telephone lines on the day they were taken. The first photograph to transfer over this network depicted an airplane crash in Morehouse, New York, on New Year's Day 1935, marking a pivotal moment in visual journalism. This capability gave the AP a major advantage over other news media outlets, as they could now distribute images as quickly as text. The network eventually expanded to cover the entire United States, connecting New York, Chicago, and San Francisco, and later extending to South America, Europe, and the Middle East. Under the leadership of Kent Cooper, who served from 1925 to 1948, the AP became a more prevalent member of a press agency cartel made up of Reuters and Havas, now Agence France-Presse. The agency lobbied for the renegotiation of the tripartite contract binding the agencies and their respective news markets at the League of Nations in 1927, attempting to give the AP a more important place in competition with Reuters. The Wirephoto network was a testament to the agency's ability to adapt to new technologies, ensuring its dominance in the global news market.
The Associated Press has a long history of sending reporters to the most dangerous corners of the world, often at great personal risk. In 1876, Mark Kellogg, a stringer, became the first AP news correspondent to be killed while reporting the news, dying at the Battle of the Little Bighorn. During World War II, AP war correspondent Joseph Morton was executed along with nine OSS men and four British SOE agents by the Germans at Mauthausen concentration camp, making him the only Allied correspondent to be executed by the Axis powers. In 1943, Ruth Cowan Nash became the first American woman war correspondent when she was sent to cover the deployment of the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps to Algeria. The agency's commitment to reporting from conflict zones has often put its staff in harm's way. In 1994, Tina Susman was kidnapped by Somali rebels in Mogadishu while reporting on U.S. peacekeeping troops leaving the country. She was held for 20 days, and the AP requested that other news organizations suppress the story to discourage the emboldening of the kidnappers. The agency's history is marked by the bravery of its correspondents, who have risked their lives to bring news from the front lines to the public. The AP's willingness to send reporters into harm's zone has earned it a reputation for reliability and courage, even in the face of extreme danger.
The Politics Of News And The Pulitzer Prize
Since the Pulitzer Prize was established in 1917, the Associated Press has earned 59 of them, including 36 for photography, a testament to its commitment to excellence in journalism. The agency's election polling and results have become the gold standard for declaring winners in major political races, particularly the presidential election. In 2018, the AP introduced a new system called AP VoteCast, which was developed together with NORC at the University of Chicago to further improve the reliability of its data and overcome biases of its legacy exit poll. The agency's election polling has been used to declare winners in every city and county across the United States, including races for the U.S. president, the Senate and House of Representatives, and governors. The AP's election polling has been a cornerstone of American democracy, providing accurate and timely information to the public. The agency's commitment to accuracy and reliability has earned it the trust of major news outlets, which rely on its polling data before declaring a winner in major political races. The AP's election polling has been a vital tool for the public, providing a clear and unbiased picture of the political landscape.
Controversies And The Fight For Access
The Associated Press has faced numerous controversies throughout its history, from its collaboration with Nazi Germany to its handling of the Israeli, Palestinian conflict. In 2017, the German historian Norman Domeier brought to wider attention the deal between the AP and the Nazi government related to the interchange of press photos during the period in which the United States was at war with Nazi Germany. The mechanism for this interchange involved a courier flying to Lisbon and back each day transporting photos from and for Nazi Germany's wartime enemy, the United States, via diplomatic pouch. An estimated 40,000 photos were exchanged between the enemies in this way. The AP was kicked out of Nazi Germany when the United States entered World War II in December 1941. The agency has also faced criticism for its handling of the Israeli, Palestinian conflict, including the Tuvia Grossman photograph incident in 2000, which was later found to be mislabeled. In 2021, the Israeli army destroyed the al-Jalaa Highrise, a building housing the AP's Gaza offices, leading to a dispute over the presence of Hamas intelligence in the building. The AP has also faced legal challenges, such as the 2025 lawsuit against the Trump administration for blocking their attendance at White House events. The agency's commitment to reporting the truth has often put it at odds with powerful entities, but it has remained steadfast in its mission to provide accurate and unbiased news to the public.
Digital Transformation And The Future Of News
The Associated Press has adapted to the digital age, launching its first dedicated iPhone application in June 2008 on stage at Apple's WWDC event. The app offered AP's own worldwide coverage of breaking news, sports, entertainment, politics and business, as well as content from more than 1,000 AP members and third-party sources. In 2024, the AP had more than 240 bureaus globally, and its mission has not changed since its founding, but digital technology has made the distribution of AP news reports an interactive endeavor between the AP and its hundreds of U.S. newspaper members, as well as broadcasters, international subscribers, and online customers. The agency's revenue model has shifted significantly, with only 10% of its revenue coming from United States newspapers by 2024, down from 30% in 2007. The AP has also embraced new technologies, such as non-fungible tokens (NFTs), although the initiative faced backlash and was eventually pulled from the market. The agency's ability to adapt to new technologies has ensured its survival in the digital age, allowing it to continue providing accurate and timely news to the public. The AP's digital transformation has been a testament to its resilience and commitment to its mission, even in the face of changing media landscapes.