Australian Associated Press
On the 18th of November 1871, a submarine cable linked Java to Darwin. This event marked the first time Australia connected to international telegraph services. The British-Australian Telegraph Company laid this line. Before this date, news from Europe took weeks or months to arrive via ships. Now it arrived in hours. The Melbourne newspaper The Argus formed an association with The Sydney Morning Herald shortly after. They created an agreement with Reuters for transmitting news to Australia. This group successfully lobbied the Government of Victoria to pass copyright legislation in 1871. It protected news material transmitted electronically for 24 hours.
For a decade prior to 1895, three organisations supplied overseas news to Australia. These included The Argus group, The Age group, and the Reuters telegraph agency. In 1895, these services merged into the Australian Press Association. A 1909 Senate inquiry found that the association was a monopolistic cartel. A competitor called the United Cable Service emerged in 1911. Keith Murdoch headed this service from 1915 to 1921. The two services agreed on shared access in 1926. In the early 1930s they set up an omnibus service. Several newspapers folded during the Great Depression. Discussions began on merging the remaining entities.
In 1935, Keith Murdoch brokered a merger between the two competitors. This established the Australian Associated Press as a not-for-profit cooperative. Fourteen newspaper shareholders owned the new entity initially. The AAP had an initial staff of 12 journalists. London and New York bureaus opened soon after. Murdoch became the first chairman and served until 1940. Its charter stated the service would provide accurate information without political partisanship or bias.
The AAP launched a full domestic news service in 1980. Before this date it only functioned to provide overseas news to Australian media. Major newspapers at the time had long-standing groups for local news syndication. By 1972 the AAP had correspondents in Beijing, Los Angeles, Port Moresby, Saigon, Singapore, Suva and Wellington. It also maintained offices in all Australian states and territories. The agency experienced large growth in its newsroom from 40 journalists in 1970 to 120 in 1980.
High pressure environments led to high turnover rates. Around 1000 journalists worked there during that period. In the 1950s the AAP partnered with Reuters to post correspondents in Asia. They became a shareholder in the Reuters telegraph agency in 1947. This provided windfall profits as well as representation on the Reuters board. The agency began offering federal parliamentary reporting from Canberra in the 1970s. Court, sports, racing and stock market reporting followed shortly after.
In June 2018 the AAP cut its editorial team by 25 staff members. This represented around 10% of its then 220 person editorial personnel. The agency shut its bureau in Papua New Guinea in 2014 after 60 years of continuous reporting. Academics and local media criticized this departure for diminishing news quality about Papua New Guinea. The Jakarta office closed down in September 2017 after 35 years. They opted to operate their Asia desk from Australia using international newswires.
The AAP switched from its not-for-profit model to become a commercial service in the 1980s. An attempt to take over the AAP by News Corp occurred in 1988. Rupert Murdoch led News Corp at that time. He tried buying half of the shares of Fairfax, the other largest shareholder. The Trade Practices Commission did not allow this to proceed. After 60 years of reporting, the agency faced significant financial challenges.
News Corp and Nine Entertainment owned 45% each prior to 2020. Seven West Media and Australian Community Media held minor shares. These major shareholders contributed in excess of $10 million annually before 2020. Minor shareholders contributed more than $1 million. In March 2020 it was announced that the AAP would cease trading in June of that year. The service had become unsustainable in competition with free online content.
After posting a $10.45 million loss in 2018, the company achieved a $929,000 profit in 2019. This turnaround proved short-lived as financial pressures mounted again. The agency shut down its New Zealand Newswire division on the 27th of April 2018. It was the final independent news agency in New Zealand to shut down. The AAP retained two full-time journalists in New Zealand after closing the digital news video team in September 2017.
On the 20th of March 2020 shareholders decided to break up and shut down the newswire. They said the service had become unsustainable against free online content. At the last minute before closure in June, a consortium bought AAP. Peter Tonagh led this group of impact investors and philanthropists. He was a former chief of News Corp and Foxtel. Nick Harrington joined the executive team as head of strategy and development. John McKinnon served as a notable philanthropist within the group.
Fred Woollard managed Samuel Terry Asset Management while Kylie Charlton directed Australian Impact Investments. Thirty-five investors from five states formed the group. The sale price was reported at $1. In the year prior to sale, the AAP reported a loss of $10 million. Five point four million dollars came from the newswire service alone. The service relaunched as a not-for-profit on the 1st of August 2020 under the same name.
Acta Diurna AAP Limited acquired the newswire. This legal entity was founded by Harrington and McKinnon. The name refers to public daily records of ancient Rome. It later became Australian Associated Press Limited. Andrew Drummond remained editor while Emma Cowdroy became CEO. She was previously senior legal counsel. Jonty Low chaired the board as the first woman without a media background.
News outlets initially sourced content from the AAP predominantly for foreign news and war reporting. They became increasingly reliant on the service for domestic and breaking news. All major newspapers once reported from Canberra's parliamentary press gallery. Recent times often see only AAP and ABC reporters present there. Almost all Australian news outlets publish increasing amounts of copy from the newswire.
By the 2010s it became common practice for newspapers to republish AAP copy with minor edits. Sometimes they included an AAP byline and at times omitted one entirely. This practice has been referred to as churnalism. Content from the AAP is particularly prevalent on online news sites. Online sites use this method to cut down costs. A 2009 study found that online breaking news sections of The Daily Telegraph were more than half unchanged AAP reports.
A 2013 study found that when the AAP reported on media relations output like press releases, it most often included little change from the original source. Many newspapers published media release content recycled through the AAP. Errors in AAP reporting spread and got republished in a homogeneous news environment. The company appealed for crowd-funding donations from the public after its relaunch.
The AAP established AAPT, a telecommunications division offering long-distance voice and data services in 1991. It was spun off and sold to Telecom New Zealand in 2000. TPG Telecom bought it again in 2013. In the 1970s the agency began its Formguide service publishing horse racing information. MediaNet emerged in the 1980s as a service for distributing press releases among journalists.
Bruce Davidson owned Pagemasters, a sub-editing business. The AAP bought this business in 2002. As part of the 2020 sale and relaunch, several divisions were spun off. Nine Entertainment, News Corp Australia, Seven West Media and Australian Community Media retained these assets. Medianet operates as a media intelligence platform today. Mediaverse provides research and analysis of media. ConnectWeb serves as a directory service for biographical data.
Megaform provides information about horse racing while Pagemasters handles digital publishing and design. These services housed under Mediality employing 130 staff members. Ninety-five roles are full-time positions with head office in Sydney. Bruce Davidson became CEO of Mediality after leaving his role at AAP.
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Common questions
When was the Australian Associated Press founded?
The Australian Associated Press was established in 1935 when Keith Murdoch brokered a merger between two competitors. This event created a not-for-profit cooperative initially owned by fourteen newspaper shareholders.
Who led the Australian Associated Press after its formation in 1935?
Keith Murdoch served as the first chairman of the Australian Associated Press from 1935 until 1940. He previously headed the United Cable Service which merged with the existing association to form the new entity.
Why did the Australian Associated Press cease trading in June 2020?
The service became unsustainable due to competition with free online content and significant financial challenges. Shareholders decided to break up and shut down the newswire on the 20th of March 2020 before it officially ceased operations in June.
What happened to the Australian Associated Press after it closed in 2020?
A consortium bought the agency for $1 and relaunched it as a not-for-profit on the 1st of August 2020 under the name Acta Diurna AAP Limited. Peter Tonagh led this group of impact investors and philanthropists while Andrew Drummond remained editor.
How many journalists worked at the Australian Associated Press during the period around 1970 to 1980?
Around 1000 journalists worked there during that period while the newsroom grew from 40 journalists in 1970 to 120 in 1980. The agency launched a full domestic news service in 1980 which expanded its operational scope significantly.