Two big chains drop AP content— and I’m okay with that

The journalism world was briefly turned upside down last month when Gannett and McClatchy both announced they were dropping the Associated Press (AP) at all their newspapers.

AUSTIN LEWTER, Director, Texas Center for Community Journalism

Gannett is the largest newspaper company in the United States. It publishes USA Today and more than 200 other newspapers from coast to coast. This includes a dozen newspapers in Texas.

They are no longer using articles, photos and videos from the AP in any of their publications.

And I think that is okay.

I realize this opinion may run counter to those espoused on popular journo pages on social media. The condemnation came quickly from traditionalists who view this as another way the corporately owned newsroom has shortchanged the reader and is giving up on honest, reliable news.

I disagree.

Community newspapers should generate original, community-based content. If done well, the community newspaper has no room for national and international news. No one is coming to your newspaper to read about the war in Gaza. Let readers find that somewhere else, because they already are.

We, at the TCCJ, define a community newspaper as a publication with a 10,000 circulation or less. By that definition, the vast majority of Gannet-owned newspapers are community newspapers. Of their 12 Texas newspapers, all but one — the Austin American Statesman — fits this definition as a “community newspaper,” according to the TPA circulation numbers.

There was a time folks sought international news in their local paper.

Those days are gone.

The AP itself has acknowledged this. They no longer rely heavily on licensing fees from syndication.

They now have variety of other revenue streams, including a news website, an e-commerce site, and software and production services.

Kathy Vetter, McClatchy’s senior vice president of news and audience, said in an email last month, “With this decision, we will no longer pay millions for content that serves less than 1 percent of our readers.”

She said, however, that McClatchy would continue to use the AP’s election results data.

Again, I’m okay with them discontinuing AP service.

But they should replace it with local content that is beneficial to the reader.

I’ve discontinued AP service at numerous community newspapers over the years with the caveat that we get back to the basics of covering local news.

I’ve received eye rolls and pushback from legacy journalism pros, but I never received a complaint from a reader.

In many cases, the cost of an AP subscription could pay for a reporter — or a few reporters.

Then why not hire reporters?

The question remains — will Gannett and McClatchy reallocate resources to produce more local news instead?

Only time will tell, but I hope so.

In the meantime, I challenge you to keep the focus local at your newsroom.

You are the only newspaper that cares about your community. Give them the news that matters to them.

Tell local stories and leave the national and international news to someone else.