Evening star., 1942-10-27

~ 80
value Is Ia direct proportion TO its
reliability and its newness.
/ Threat to Incentive.
| 13. Il the news gathered. through
/ the cooperative facilities Of A.P.
and It's members were required to be
made available to every one, whether
| I rnemher OF; not, the incentive, of
eachs member to contribute his time,
effort and money to the upbuilding
Of an organization for the mutual
benefit Of himself and of others
making . Ike contribution would
disappear. - .. -
No matter how. great. the contri-
button Of the member had been, or
over how long a period 1t had been
made, He would enjoy no cosnpeti-
tive advantage over others who had
i hot thus ventured. their time and
/ resources. Under. such circum-
stances, the loyalty so essential to
the efIiciente and successful opera
ton of mutual enterprise could
not survive,
Instead Of going beyond the let
ter of his obligation in: order to
maintain superior service from
which he hoped to derive his share
Of the benefit, each member would
appraise his relationship to A. P.
solely in the light Of the immediate
return to him. He would thereupon
become merely a. buyer and seller
| Of news, and cooperation in q
mutual enterprise would be replaced
by arm's-length bargaining. A. P.
would become merely another COM
mercial news agency.
IA. The requirement of A. P.'s
bylaws that a newspaper published
In the same locality served by an
existing member may be elected to
membership in A. P. only by vote
Of the membership Is. in effect,
merely a corollary of the require
ment for the exclusive interchange
OF news between members through
the agency of A. p, and is in
complete harmony with the theory
and practice OF truly cooperative
enterprise.
The addition Of another member
in a territory already served by an
A. P. member does not increase the
area or materially augment the
scope Of A. P.'s news coverage, nor
does it increase A. P.'s revenues.
If any one, merely by payment of
a proportionate share of the cost
Of gathering and distributing the
news, were automatically entitled
to membership in A. p, the men,
bers would cease to have any pro-
prietary interest in the organiza-
ton created and maintained through
their mutual efforts.
Value Created.
Through their continued loyalty
to the enterprise, members have
created something Of value to each,
the benefits of which others should
not be able to appropriate without
making a commensurate contri-
button to the mutual cooperative
undertaking. Automatic admission
to membership, without a commen-
surate contribution and without
the assent Of reasonable propor-
ton OF the members, would destroy
the cooperative character of the
enterprise.
Is. The continuance OF A. p. as a
mutual cooperative enterprise en-
listing the loyalty and proprietary
interest Of its members is of far
greater, Importance +, local news
papers in small communities than it
Is to large metropolitan newspapers.
One reason for this is that local
newspapers In small communities
must place greater reliance upon a
news agency for adequate news COW
erage; another reason is that such
newspapers usually lack the finan-
cial resources with which to COM
pete against newspaper which is
launched by powerful individual
or group Of individuals for the par
ticular purpose Of accomplishing
some selfish end.
16. However serious to each indi-
vidual member the loss of his pro-
prletary interest in A. P. and such
resulting competitive advantage as
ne may enjoy, the loss to the public
would be incomparably greater. The
destruction Of the cooperative prin-
ciple in news gathering and dis
trlbution would place these func-
tions, so vital to the national well
fare. once again exclusively in COM
mercial channels,
The standard of an impartial and
unbiased reporting of the news
which has been achieved by the op-
Grafton OF A. P. under the control of
its members could not survive the
transition Of such members to the
role OF mere customers purchasing
news on a price basis.
Rivals Esta ablished Later.
II. When A. P. was organized in
1900, there were no other news agen-
cies of comparable size or impor-
tance. In 1907, the present United
Press Associations Hereinafter
sometimes referred to as ~. P."),
and In 1909, International News
Service hereinafter sometimes re-
| ferred to as Il. N. So were estab-
lished. Both U. P. and I. N. S. have
largely expanded In the intervening
years. The Government itself al
leges that at the present time U. P.
furnishes news to approximately 900
newspapers. as against 1,246 in the
United States presently served by
A. p; and that I. N. S. similarly
serves approximately 325 newspa-
pers: A. p. has never monopolized or
attempted to monopolize the collec-
ton or distribution Of news.
ls. The growth Of competing news
agencies has been fostered instead
Of hampered by A. P. through the
restriction Of A. P.'s service to its
own members. Were A. p. obliged to
admit to membership every newspa-
per which was prepared to pay its pro
rata share of the cost of gathering
and distributing the news, A. p.
would not only become a CONNER
cial news agency but, in view of the
good will attaching to its name over
a long period of years, it might well
become the only news agency fur