AP plans staff cuts, restructuring amid broader business shift
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The Associated Press logo at the entrance to the news organization's office in New York on July 13, 2023. Photo: Aaron Jackson/AP
The Associated Press plans dozens of U.S. staff cuts as part of a broader restructuring away from hyper-local print coverage and toward video and national topics, executive editor Julie Pace and global chief revenue officer Kristin Heitmann told Axios.
Why it matters: Founded as a local journalism collective in 1846, U.S. newspaper groups today account for less than 10% of the AP's overall revenue, per Heitmann.
- Revenue from that cohort has declined 25% over the past few years, while revenue from tech companies has grown roughly 200%, she noted.
Zoom in: Management will first offer a voluntary separation plan to a select number of unionized staff on Monday. It will move to layoffs if it doesn't receive enough voluntary buyout interest from eligible employees.
- Although the cuts will mostly impact the AP's U.S. news team, the outlet is seeking a small number of volunteers from other reporting teams in the U.S., before resorting to possible layoffs.
- The AP declined to say exactly how many staffers would be affected, but noted that the cuts will affect less than 5% of the news outlet's global workforce.
- Executives would not specify the AP's current number of global employees, although third parties have suggested it is above 3,000.
Between the lines: Pace said the AP is making these changes now, while difficult, from a position of strength.
- The not-for-profit outlet — which turns 180 years old this year — is profitable and revenues are stable, she noted.
- It's "not because our audiences and revenue are shrinking, but really because our audiences and our revenue are coming from different places," she said.
- The outlet already made a set of sweeping cuts in 2024, impacting 8% of staff, to get ahead of these types of changes.
Zoom out: Over the past few years, the AP's business has evolved to become less reliant on local newspaper revenue and more reliant on a broader set of customers, including digital outlets, broadcasters and non-news companies.
- Two years ago, two of the largest newspaper groups in the country, USA Today (formerly Gannett) and McClatchy, said they would stop licensing the AP's news content, citing costs.
- Today, AP licenses its work, including election data, to a slew of tech giants, including Google, OpenAI, Kalshi, Microsoft and Amazon.
- It's also started to invest more in advertising as a way to monetize its consumer traffic.
Reality check: The AP's operations have also pivoted to become much more centered on video and visuals in recent years, as clients look for more rapid response coverage of big events, and deeper coverage on certain national topics, such as immigration and law enforcement.
- The outlet has more than doubled the number of U.S. video journalists that it works with since 2022, per Pace.
The big picture: The changes announced Monday underscore a broader shift in the local news landscape as more outlets become nonprofits to raise philanthropic funding.
- Because the AP relies on a strong local news ecosystem to service its member organizations, it still plans to invest in local news coverage, but through a new model. It remains committed to keeping reporters on the ground in all 50 U.S. states, Pace said.
- The AP launched an independent, nonprofit sister organization in 2024 called the AP Fund for Journalism to raise at least $100 million to expand state and local news. It aims to have 150 participating newsrooms by the end of this year.
