Associated Press (AP)

Mondo Times editors    Boulder Colorado USA

Posted at 7:15am on Wednesday, November 18th, 2009

Layoffs In Full Swing At AP

Business Insider reported on November 17, 2009:

"The News Media Guild listserv was abuzz last night with chatter that management would roll out mass cuts. One staffer wrote, "I hear 70-80 people are being cut across departments and classifications, including managers. Some have received notices, some have not."

Says a source at AP's Manhattan headquarters, "Staffers are clapping for some people, presumably those that got hit."

Layoffs include a veteran national writer in New York; at least eight editorial assistant positions in domestic bureaus such as Albany, Denver and Kansas City; and in Washington DC, two staffers in the broadcasting and research departments."

The full story:
http://www.businessinsider.com/bloody-tuesday-at-ap-2009-11

Mondo Times editors    Boulder Colorado USA

Posted at 11:25am on Friday, November 13th, 2009

AP CEO Says Layoffs Not Over Yet

Business Insider reported on November 12, 2009:

"AP CEO Tom Curley addressed staffers Thursday at a company-wide Town Hall forum, saying: "I know you all would like me to sound the all clear. I cannot do that."

While many employees have been shown the door, there will yet be cuts in order to slash 10% from the payroll as planned."

The full story:
http://www.businessinsider.com/ap-prez-to-staff-layoffs-will-continue-2009-11

Mondo Times editors    Boulder, Colorado USA

Posted at 11:37pm on Thursday, September 10th, 2009

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates has criticized the AP for publishing a controversial photograph, the New York Times reported on September 4, 2009:

"A furious Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates has upbraided The Associated Press for its decision to go against the wishes of a young Marine’s family and publish a photograph of him taken after he was mortally wounded in Afghanistan.

In a scathing letter to Tom Curley, president and chief executive of The A.P., Mr. Gates said that the news agency’s decision was “appalling” and that the issue was one not of constitutionality but of “judgment and common decency.”"

The full story:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/05/world/asia/05gates.html

Mondo Times editors    Boulder Colorado USA

Posted at 12:36am on Saturday, June 13th, 2009

The 2009 edition of the AP Stylebook has been updated to include "twitter," "baba ghanoush" and "texting":

Twitter, the social networking tool that has turned millions of people around the world into instant micro-bloggers, has made it into the 2009 edition of The Associated Press Stylebook, along with complicated business terms such as credit default swaps and derivatives that have gained more exposure amid the global recession.

The new edition of the Stylebook adds a "Quick Reference Guide" to make it easier for users to answer the most common questions on topics such as abbreviations and acronyms; homicide, murder and manslaughter; and polls and surveys.

Twitter, the Middle Eastern eggplant dish baba ghanoush and texting as a verb are among more than 60 new or updated entries in the new AP Stylebook, which includes more business, food, medical and Arabic terms and expanded information on major U.S. and international companies.

The range of new business terms also includes collateralized debt obligations, Libor, recession-proof, reverse auction, securitization and solvency.

The subscription-based AP Stylebook Online also has been improved, with audio pronunciation guides for newsmakers, an updated search function and detailed information on U.S. and international companies. The Online version is updated throughout the year and allows users to customize with their own listings, examples and local deviations from AP style.

Updates and additions in the AP Stylebook and Briefing on Media Law, the standard reference tool in newsrooms and many professional offices across the country, reflect changes in word usages and in society.

The Stylebook was first produced in 1953 as a stapled collection of rules totaling 60 pages, and has grown to a publication of more than 400 pages today. The book's creation was prompted in part by a technical change in the way the AP transmitted news as well as a need for consistency among a worldwide editorial staff that churned out stories for newspapers with a variety of style preferences. There have been major periodic revisions over the past few decades, the last in 2008, and the print edition is now updated annually.

The new print edition and online subscriptions can be ordered by credit card online at a secure site at http://www.apbookstore.com. The order form also allows customers to create an invoice to pay by check or money order, and member news organizations can request direct assessment.

The new edition costs $11.75 for member news organizations and college bookstores and $18.95 retail. The prices remain the same as in 2008 in recognition of the difficult economic conditions faced by news organizations. Stylebook Online prices also are the same, with individual subscribers paying $25 annually, $15 for members. Prices for Online site licenses are based on the number of users, with the price declining as the number of users increases.