The Associated Press and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation announced today an expanded collaboration that will further strengthen AP’s unmatched U.S. news report and coverage of state and local news.
An initial investment from the Knight Foundation will bolster the global news organization’s commitment to delivering factual, nonpartisan reporting to digital audiences.
AP remains the only news organization to report from across the country with journalists based in every state.
“The Associated Press has been a bedrock of accurate, nonpartisan journalism for the better part of two centuries. We remain deeply committed to our 50-state U.S. footprint, at a time when state and local news outlets are under increasing pressure yet the need for fact-based news has never been greater,” said AP Senior Vice President and Executive Editor Julie Pace. “We are pleased the Knight Foundation shares our desire to inform the public with factual journalism and look forward to continuing to our collaboration.”
“Knight is rooted in the belief that local journalism is essential to an effective democracy. This collaboration with The Associated Press reinforces our shared commitment to ensuring communities across America have access to trusted, factual reporting,” said Jim Brady, Knight’s vice president of journalism. “AP’s presence in all 50 states uniquely positions it to strengthen local news ecosystems at a time when reliable information is harder to find than ever.”
Today’s announcement builds upon the work done by AP and the Knight Foundation to expand access to election content and services ahead of the 2024 U.S. election.
As part of the collaboration, AP photos and text stories were used nearly 10,000 times by over 130 news organizations based throughout the U.S., including in the key battleground states of Georgia, Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Virginia. Publishers told AP the collaboration helped broaden their digital audiences and received positive feedback from readers.
AP’s 50-state footprint has ensured standout, eyewitness journalism from some of the biggest stories in the U.S. so far this year. Examples include:
- All-formats coverage of the New Orleans truck attack, in which AP captured photos and video from the ground and by air.
- The Los Angeles wildfires, where AP journalists relayed some of the earliest live visuals, the first in a cascade of images by AP staff that brought the destruction to a global audience
- Sweeping coverage of the inauguration of President Donald Trump, punctuated by AP’s first-ever narrated livestream and a flood of photos, video and text stories documenting the first 24 hours of the new administration.
About AP
The Associated Press is an independent global news organization dedicated to factual reporting. Founded in 1846, AP today remains the most trusted source of fast, accurate, unbiased news in all formats and the essential provider of the technology and services vital to the news business. More than half the world’s population sees AP journalism every day. Online: www.ap.org
About Knight Foundation
We are social investors who support a more effective democracy by funding free expression and journalism, arts and culture in community, research in areas of media and democracy, and in American cities and towns where the Knight brothers once published newspapers. KF.org
Contact
Lauren Easton
Vice President of Corporate Communications
The Associated Press
212-621-7005
[email protected]
Patrick Maks
Director, Media Relations and Corporate Communications
The Associated Press
[email protected]
Related articles
