"The saddest day: AAP closes after 85 years of excellence in journalism. The AAP family will be sorely missed,” AAP Editor-in-Chief
The agency is renowned for its fair and impartial reporting and its extraordinary reach across rural and urban
“When you have such an important institution such as AAP coming to an end, ... that is a matter of real concern,” Prime Minister
Australian media organizations face mounting financial pressure, with global digital giants Google and
“The unprecedented impact of the digital platforms that take other people's content and distribute it for free has led to too many companies choosing to no longer use AAP's professional service,” AAP said in a statement.
AAP's more than 170 journalists will cease operations by
The first inkling that most AAP staff had that their jobs were in danger came on Monday with a Nine newspapers' report that noted the weakest advertising market since the global financial crisis in 2008.
AAP management told staff about the closure on Tuesday afternoon.
“We are obviously devastated by the news,”
The company made a modest
The AP licenses its news text and photo services to AAP for redistribution in the Australian media market and its customers. The AP is also contracted to use AAP text and photos.
“Bean-counters at the top of media organizations might think they can soldier on without AAP, but the reality is it will leave a huge hole in news coverage,” the union’s federal president,
There was no indication of any hope of reversing the decision to close the agency. But AAP Melbourne reporter
“I work with the best women and men and hope I will continue to be able to,” Kolovos tweeted. “Impartial journalism is vital to our democracy. Without it, the public will be worse off.”
Her
“That's 4109 blank spaces on websites and newspapers, dead air on radio that would need to be filled without us,” Sweeney tweeted.
Broadcasters, online media and other news organizations still depend heavily on content from news agencies and other print media. But the decline in print media's share of advertising spending has squeezed AAP and other news organizations, with dozens of newspapers closing in the past decade.
While television and radio broadcasters receive some government support, print and online news media businesses generally do not, the
For generations, AAP has been Australian “journalism's first responder," said its chairman,
“It is a great loss that professional and researched information provided by AAP is being substituted with the unresearched and often inaccurate information that masquerades as real news on the digital platforms,” said Reid, a 20-year AAP veteran.
“But we are proud of AAP’s achievements over 85 years and know that everyone who worked on the wire gave it their all, in the name of fair, balanced and accurate reporting," he said.
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