Norwich bulletin., 1913-05-09
THE GREAT ASSOCIATED PRESS

THE GREAT ASSOCIATED PRESS. The Worlds Greatest News Gathering
 Agency-Methods Which it Uses in
 Getting The Happenings as They
 Occur.
 Probably no institution is more wide ly known by name than The Associ- ated Press and, on the other hand, more vaguely understood by the public gem erally as to it's organization and it's functions. For whatever cause this may be, that 1t is a fact is daily appar- ent, writes Frank B. Moves, president of the Associated Press in the North American Review.
 The Associated Press is an associ- ation of something over $50 news papers operating under a charter of the state of New York as Q. mutal and cooperative organization for the inter change and collection of news. Under the terms of it's charter "the corpora ton .is not to make 8 profit nor to make or declare dividends and is not to engage in the business of selling in- telligence nor traffic in the same"
 In other words, The Associated Press is simply a common agent of it's mem bers by which they arrange an inter chan of news that each collects, and is bound by it's membership obligation to contribute for the common use of it's fellow members, and also is the agency through which reports of for eign and certain classes of domestic happenings are collected and distri- buted to the newspapers served by the organization.
 The fact that in the present year we celebrate the twentieth anniversary of the first nationwide cooperative or ganization in the world seems to make the publication of something respect ing it timely.
 Servant of Newspapers.
 The Associated Press is in nowise the master of the newspapers consti- tuting its membership; it is distinctly their servant
 It's board of directors is composed of active newspaper men chosen at an nual meetings by the membership and, in an experience running through twenty years of Intimate connection with the present organization and also that Of the older Illinois corporation. I have never known an instance in all the changing personnel of boards of directors when there was any depap- ture from the most rigid observance of the highest obligations of true trustee ship and disregard of private and self ish interests. The president, vice presidents and members of the board of directors serve without salaries
 The Associated Press of today is the outcome of a many year struggle be- tween two opposing systems One, that Of news gathering concerns, with private or limited, ownership, which dealt at arms length with newspapers to which they sold news at such profit as might be secured and over which the neWspa pefS who bought from them had no more control than over the paper mill supplying them with print pa per.
 y;,ha e,t5,a,. s,.,te,.. i ha.aa ~ +ba theei'y that a powerful, privately owned and controlled newssathering agency is menace to the press and people.
 Started in 1893.
 Determined to establish an agency subject only to the control of the news papers for whom it acted, in 1893 group of western men composing the Western Associated Press began a fight 10 attain this end. and since that time q contest between these two op- posing principles has been waged In asserting that The Associated Press as to-day constituted, is the servant and agent only of the newspapers for which it acts. l have no thought of minimizing the tremendous importance of the work it does as such an agent but wish simply to emphasize the thought that properly speaking it has no entity of its own, no mission. save to serve its members.
 It's members are scattered from the Atlantic to the Pacific from Canada 70 the gulf and represent every possible shade of political belief, religious faith and economic sympathy. It is oDNious that The Associated Press can have no partisan or factional bias. no religious afiiliation, no capitalistic or pro-labor trend.
 Its function is simply to furnish it's members with a truthful, clean, com prehensive, nonpartisan-and this in it's broadest sense-report of the news of the world as expeditiously as is compatible with accuracy. and as eco nomicaily as possible.
 Cost $3,o60,Oo0 Annually.
 To do this the newspapers compos- ing it's membership contribute, first the news of their localities and, second, weekly assessments of money aggre- gating about $3,G00, 600 per annum, with which an extensive system of leased wires jS maintained (22,000 miles of wire in the daytime and 28,G00 miles of wire at night) bureaus in the principal American cities suppiementing and coilating the news of local ne~spa Ders and bureaus for the original collection of news throughout the world
 The volume of the news report to members varies greatly. ranging from 5G1 words daily by telegraph or IeIe- phone 10 papers able to utilize but a small amount of general news matter. 10 more than 50.e0o words daily or thirty five newspaper columns in the more important cities
 The method of collecting foreign news has been greatly changed in re cent years Formerly The Associated Press collected it's foreign service in London. receiving the news there of the Reuter- company. of tie Wolff Agency of the HaEas Agency of France with smaller affiliated agencies in Italy and Spain.
 The objection to this method was that the news as received in London was alleged to be impressed with an English bias in any event it was con cededly not collected from an Ameri- can viewpoint
 To meet this criticism The Asseci-