Evening star., 1942-10-27

the United States and in certain
other parts Of the world. AS states
in is charter, A. P. Is - mutual ant
cooperative, organization + for, thl
collection and interchange, Will
greater economy and efficiency, ,o
information and intelligence TO
publication In the newspaper,
owned" BY. its members, "A. r /!
prohibited by its charter from max.
Ing = profit or declaring dividends
The defendants deny the aver1aen1
contained In paragraph 2 that A.. p
Is engaged In commercial business
Qualities Praised by Government.
s. A. p. was organized in 1900 Ane
Tor ~ years has been furnishing K
Its members news service which
the Government itself characterize
as einbodying the highest standards
OF accurate non-partisan and com.
prehensive news reporting The ma.
ture Of the service furnished by A. p
and the resulting contribution
which A. p. has made to the dis
semination. Of complete and un.
biased information Of world event,
and conditions are not fortuitous
but stem from the very character Of
A. P.'s organization. This In turn
reflects the experience gained in a
long continued struggle by news
papers to obtain effective co-op-
e7ative control over the news gath
ering and distributing facilities. upon
which they depend. -..s i,
Z. Prior to the formation in 1897
Of the Associated Press of Illinois
the collection and distribution of the
news OF the world had been largely
restricted to agencies which were
privately owned by small groups OF
newspapers. They dealt at arm.
length with other newspapers to
which they sold news at such profit
as might be secured.
Their newspaper customers had
no control over the scope or char
acter Of the news reports which
they purchased. Under such cir
cumstances the news agencies could
obtain profits not only from the
sale OF their news reports to Gus
toners, but also from persons who
for a variety of reasons, were willing
to pay for the privilege Of having
the news reports colored or dis
torted.
Experience both in this country
and throughout the world has long
demonstrated that such Is usually
the result when no established CO.
operative news association exists to
set the standard and news gather
ing and distribution are restricted
to commercial channels. Dissatis-
faction with the privately owned
and commercially operated news
agencies eliminated In the organi-
zation Of the Associated Press of IL
linois and the first practical appli-
cation of the principle of world wide
cooperative news gathering by
newspapers. This principle is the
cornerstone Of the present A. P.
Pattern Uniform in Expansion.
8. Membership OF A. P. has more
than doubled since its organization
and its facilities for the gathering
and distribution Of news have been
greatly expanded, but the basic pat
tern of A. P. and It's method of oper-
alton have been substantially uni
form during Its entire history. Each
member is under obligation to fur
nlsh to "A. p, al 1.of the news of
spontaneous origin" in the locality
in which the members newspaper is
published. In turn, each member is
entitled to receive from A. P. the
news gathered by A. P. from all of
its members (other than members
in the same locality) and through
other means.
For the collection of news
throughout the world, "A. p. MAIN
tains its own news bureaus and en-
ployes its own correspondents. Such
news, together with that furnished
by its members, A. P. distributes to
its members through country wide
network of leased wires and other
means. The cost of the gathering
and distribution of the news by
A. P. is betrayed through assess
ments paid by its members.
8. The comprehensiveness of the
news coverage by A. P. is dependent
upon the cooperation of all its
members in furnishing all the news
Of interest in their particular local
tiles and their willingness to ex-
pend time, effort and money to
create and maintain an organiza-
ton capable Of gathering and dis
tributing all news Of Importance
with the greatest speed compatible
with accuracy.
The impartial and unbiased char
acter of the news furnished to A. P.
by its members and to the members
by A. P. Is assured by the fact that
the membership represents a cross
section Of opinion on all issues of
general interest, and by the fact that
the membership has the power not
only to control their cooperative
enterprise but also to invoke dis
ciplinary action against any men,
Der who departs from the standard
Of integrity in the reporting and pub
fishing of A. P. news.
Threat to Impartiality.
10. The basic reason why A. P, in
the language of the complaint (Par
66), ranks in the forefront In public
reputation and esteem" is that "the
character Of the organization Of the
Associated Press-a membership cor
poration composed Of persons repre-
senting every shade of economic, po-
litical and religious opinion and
every section of the country-is an
invaluable guarantee that the prom
ise and claim made by each news
agency-that it presents the news
without any political or sectional
bias-will in fact be fulfilled"
The good will which A. P. now en-
joys results, again in the language
of the complaint Par 66). from
the fact that in the mind of the gen.
eral public the name Associated
Press has long been regarded as
synonymous with the highest stand
ards of accurate, non-partisan and
comprehensive news-reporting."