Arizona republican., 1913-04-28


May number OF the North American
Review. Frank B. Moves, the writer,
is the president of the Associated
Press-Ed Note)
Bv FRANK 8. MOVES.
Probably no institution is more wide
~ known br name than The Associated
Press and, on the other hand, more
vaguely understood by the public gen
orally as to its organization and its
frnct,Ons. For whatever cause this
may be. that il is 4 fact is daily ap-
parent
The Associated Press is an associa-
ton of something over eight hundred
and fifty newspapers. operating under
"A charter Of the state of New York as
"a mutual and cooperative organiza-
tion FOR the interchange and collection
of news. Under the terms of its char
acter the corporation is not to make 4
profit nor to make or declare dividends
and is not to engage in the business of
selling intelligence nor traffic in the
same
In other words, The Associated Press
is simply a common agent OF its mem
bers by which they arrange an inter
change Of the news that each collects
and is bound by its membership obli-
CATION to contribute for the common
use Of its fellow members and also as
the agency through which reports OF
foreign and certain classes of domestic
happenings are collected and dstrib-
uted TO the newspapers served by the
organization.
The fact 1hatin the present year
We celebrate the twentieth anniversary
OF the first nation wide cooperative
and non profit-making news gathering
organization in the world seems to
make the publication of something re-
specting it timely.
The Associated Press is in no wise
the master of the newspapers consti-
Wtng its membership; it is distinctly
their servant.
Its 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
l have never known an instance in all
the changing personnel of boards Of
ture from the most rigid observance of
the highest obligations Of trusteeship
and disregard of private and selfish in
terests.. The president, vice president.
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 newspapers who bought from them
had no more control than over the
paper mill supplying them with print
paper.
The other system is based on the
theory that a powerful privately
owned and controlled news gathering
agency is Il menace to the press and
people.
Determined to establish an agency
subject only to the control of tbs
newspapers for whom it acted, in 1885,
group Of western men composing
the Western Associated Press begar
that time a contest between these two
opposing principles has been Waged
~ asserting that the Associated
Press, as today constituted. is the ser
want and agent only of the neWspa
pers for which it acts. | have M
thought of minimizing the tremendous
Importance of the work it does a.
such agent, but wish simply to empha
size the thought that properly speak
ing it has no entity of its own. NJ
mission save to serve it's members.
Its members. are scattered from tn
Atlantic to the Pacific. from Canad
to the gulf. and represent every pos
sible shade of political belief religion
faith and economic sympathy 1t
obvious that the Associated Press ca
have no partisan nor factional bias
nor religious affiliation. no capitals
tic no pro- labor trend
Its function is simply to furnish il
members with a truthful. clean, com
prehensive. -partisan-and this i
its broadest Sense-report of the new
of the world as expeditiously rs
compatible with accuracy and as eco
nomically as possible
To do this the newspapers con pris
ing its membership contribute frs
the news of other localities, and. sec
Ond. weekly assessments of money as
sregating about $3.000,0 900 per apnur
with which an extensive system
leased wires is maintained C22,0t
miles of wire in the day time ar
2S,000 miles of wire at night, bl