A voluntary severance and retirement program will be proposed first before “positions are eliminated,” the AP president said in a briefing note.
The American news agency Associated Press announced on Monday that it was cutting 8% of its workforce as part of its effort to “adapt” to the “transformation of the media sector”, against the background of the financial crisis in the press sector, just two weeks after the presidential elections in USA.
A program will be suggested initially voluntary retirement and retirement before “positions are eliminated,” Desi Weerasigam, president of AP, which is one of the big three international news agencies along with Reuters and Agence France-Presse, said in a memo to staff at the news organization.
“In total, these changes will affect 8% of our workforce” and of that approximately half of the positions that will be eliminated belong “in the news sector,” he added.
The management did not clarify how many journalists are affected by the decision.
Founded in 1846 by New York newspapers, the AP is a nonprofit organization that delivers news, articles, photos and video to subscription media, but has diversified its services in recent years in search of other sources of revenue. The agency, which employed 3,200 people in 2018, transmitted more than 375,000 texts, 1.24 million photos and 80,000 videos in 2023, according to its own numbers.
“We all know that the media sector is going through a period of transformation. Our customers, both existing and future, are changing at a rapid pace,” and “we now have to accelerate down that path,” Weerasigam continued.
The AP has a central role in US reporting, especially during election seasons, when its post-poll projections and early results generally accurately predict the winners, long before they are announced by official sources.
Amid the economic crisis in the industry, however, two local media groups, Gannett and McClatchy, announced in 2024 that they would stop using the agency’s content.
According to Desi Weerasigam, “most of the changes will be in the US, where we remain committed to our presence in all 50 states,” but “we must evolve to align with the changing needs of our customers and the market.”
Source :Skai
With a wealth of experience honed over 4+ years in journalism, I bring a seasoned voice to the world of news. Currently, I work as a freelance writer and editor, always seeking new opportunities to tell compelling stories in the field of world news.
