Despite being a pillar of the media Down Under, Australian Associated Press (AAP) is soon to be closed, saying they are “no longer viable to continue” and blaming the journalistic market being flooded with free digital media.
The AAP was founded in 1935 by Keith Murdoch, father of Newscorp founder Rupert Murdoch. They soon grew to have bureaus all over the country with correspondents around the world.
Editor-in-Chief Tony Gillies said in a statement, “We have had a place like no other in journalism. We exist for the public’s interest and I now fear for the void left by the absence of AAP’s strong, well-considered voice.”
The newswire blames digital content for their closure, citing Google and Facebook’s role in taking advertising revenues as well as the Australian government for allowing online news outlets to compete.
“The unprecedented impact of the digital platforms that take other people’s content and distribute it for free has led to too many companies choosing to no longer use AAP’s professional service,” they said in a statement, while also blaming “…the federal government’s failure to effectively deal with digital content aggregators, search engines and social media, which has made news readily available for free online.”
The announcement of the closure inspired a ‘saveAAP’ hashtag on Twitter with many fellow journalists sharing their support.
“Good Lord, AAP gone. Rubbish day for a talented, agenda-free and hard working mob,” wrote NRL reporter Dan Walsh. “Rubbish day for Oz media because what steps in for the news wire and its values will be the exact opposite #saveAAP.”
What I love about my AAP colleagues and friends is their absolutely ego-less approach to their work. The number of times they’ve saved my butt when shorthand, technology or sheer lack of resources failed me are too many to mention. Thinking of them all tonight. #saveaap
The AAP is not the only news outlet to feel the impact of Facebook and Google’s reach on ad revenue. Some 30,000 newspaper jobs have been lost in the journalism market over the last few years with the tech giants controlling over 60 percent of US digital ad revenue. Apart from that more people have been turning to alternative online media disappointed with mainstream bias.
The AAP will officially cease publication in June 2020. Its network of contributors from around the globe included correspondents in New Zealand, Port Moresby, London, Jakarta, and Los Angeles. The wire service is currently owned by News Corp Australia, Nine Entertainment Co., and Seven West Media.
AAP chairman and Newscorp executive Campbell Reid described the company as “journalism’s first responder.”
