The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-04-30
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
by FRANK II. MOVES, PRESIDENT
Tin the North American Review

known by name than The Associated
Press and, on the other hand, more
vaguely understood by the public gener-
ally as to Its organization end its func-
tions. For whatever cause this may be.
that it is a fact is daily apparent.
The Associated Press is an association
of something over $50 newspapers, oper-
ating under a charter of the state of
New York as a mutual and cooperative
organization for the interchange and col
lection of news. Under the terms of it's
charter the corporation is not to make
a 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 obliga-
tion 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 happen
ings are collected and distributed to the
newspapers served by the organization.
The fact that in the present year we
celebrate the twentieth anniversary of
the first nationwide cooperative and
AAoiA PA icWo BdlutltH6 Oi6dA-
ization in the world seems to make the
publication of something respecting il
timely.
The Associated Press Is in no wise
the master of the newspapers constitute
ing its membership; 1t is distinctly their
servant
Its board of directors Is composed of
active newspaper men chosen at, annual
meetings by the membership and, in
HXnarianna mi N 7url1 "
of intimate connection with the present
organization and also that of the older
Illinois corporation, | have never known
an instance in all the changing person
mel of boards of directors when there
was any departure from the most rigid
observance of the highest obligations cf
trrsteeship and disregard of private and
selfish interests. The president, vice
presidents and members of the board of
directors serve without salaries.
The Associated Press of today is the
ousome of many-year struggle between
two opposing systems. One, that of
news gathering concerns with private
or limited ownership which dealt al arms
length with newspapers to which they
sold news at such profit as might be Sc
cured, and over which the newspapers
who bought from them had more
control than over the paper mill sup
plying them with print paper.
The other system is based on the theory
that a powerful privately owned and
controlled news gathering agency is a
menace to the press and people.
Determined to establish an agency sub
ject only to the control of the newspapers
for whom 1t acted, in 1898 a group of
western men composing the Western AS
sociated Press began to fight to attain
this end, and since that time a contest
between these two opposing principles
has been waged. In asserting that The
Associated Press, as today constituted, Is
the servant and agent only of the news
papers for which it acts, | have no
thought of minimizing the tremendous
Importance of the work 1t 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.
Its members are scattered from the
Atlantic to the Pacific from Canada to
the Gulf, and represent every possible
shade of political belief, religious faith,
and economic sympathy. 1t is obvious
that The Associated Press can have no
partisan nor factioncl bias, no religious
affiliation, capitalist nor pro-labor
trend.
It's function is simply to furnish its
members with a truthful. clean, compre-
hensive n-partisan-and this in its
broadest sense-report of the news of the
world as sexpeditiously as is compatible
with accuracy and as economically as
possible.
To do this the newspapers composing
its membership contribute first, the news
of their localities and second, weekly as
sessments of money aggregating about
50, 900 per annum with which an
tensive system of leased wires is main
tanned (22000 miles of wire in the day
time and $500 miles of wire at night,
bureaus in the principal American cities
suppementing and collating the news of
local newspapers and bureaus for the
original collection of news throughout the
world.
The volume of the news report to MEM
bers varies greatly ranging from 800
words daily by telegraph or telephone
to papers able to utilize but small
amount of general news matter, to more
than $1,000 words daily or 30 newspaper
columns in the more important cities.
The method of collecting foreign news
has been greatly changed in recent years.
its foreign service in London, receiving
Its forein service in London, receiving
the news there of the Reuter- company. of
the Wolff agency of Germany, and of the
Havas 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 al
legged to be impressed with an English
bias-in any event it was concededly not
collected from an American viewpoint.