The Associated Press announced Monday that it will begin an acquisition offer and lay off some employees as part of a plan to reduce its news organization's workforce by about 8% and accelerate its transition to a digital-first organization.
The move is part of what is expected to be a gloomy end of the year for the news industry. suffer from business difficulties It goes back many years. The end of a busy presidential election cycle was also expected to accelerate redistricting plans.
The Associated Press said bidders should learn of the offer, which includes severance pay and 18 months of partial health insurance, by the end of Monday. Those forced out of their jobs will learn their fate in the coming weeks.
Once considered the world's largest news organization, The Associated Press no longer makes such claims or discloses the size of its staff. As a result, it was impossible to say how many people would be affected as of Monday. The Associated Press said less than half of the expected layoffs will involve media workers, and the majority will be in the United States.
The News Media Guild has announced that 121 of its members will be offered a takeover. The AP said the layoffs would be smaller than for union members, although it did not provide estimates.
AP is proud to be an unbiased news source, providing news stories, photos, video, audio, and interactive content directly to consumers through our website, apnews.com. But most of the company's business comes from selling journalism to other news organizations that use it.
Earlier this year, two major news chains, Gannett and McClatchy, stop buying news From the Associated Press: In Gannett's case, it marks the end of a relationship that lasted more than a century. AP has diversified its revenue sources in recent years. Accepting charity fundsbut still hurt by the woes of the news industry as a whole.
“We all know this is a time for change in the media sector,” Associated Press President and CEO Daisy Veerasingham said in a memo to staff early Monday morning. I know,” he said. “Our customers are rapidly changing who they are and what they need from us, which is why we have focused on delivering digital-first news reports. We need to accelerate this path now.”
Broadly speaking, this means an increased emphasis on visual journalism, including photos and videos and digital content that incorporates them into storytelling.
An Associated Press spokesperson said Veerasingham was not available for an interview.
AP continues to be a central part of the news industry ecosystem, especially when it comes to U.S. elections. Veerasingham said the Associated Press made unprecedented use of live video, election data, visuals and interactive products during its election coverage earlier this month.
The Associated Press said it had reached a tentative agreement with the union to propose a takeover, but it would need approval from union members. The Associated Press union president did not immediately return a message seeking comment Monday.
