CNN Pitches a Cheaper Wire Service to Newspapers

[dkf]

CNN, in the afterglow of an election season of record ratings for cable news, is elbowing in on a new line of business: catering to financially strained newspapers looking for an alternative to The Associated Press.

Jessica McGowan for The New York Times

CNN already runs an internal wire service, says Jim Walton, president of CNN Worldwide.


Tom Curley, the head of The Associated Press, said CNN’s service needed improvement.

For nearly a month, a trial version of CNN’s wire service has been on display in some newspapers. But this week editors from about 30 papers will visit Atlanta to hear CNN’s plans to broaden a service to provide coverage of big national and international events — and maybe local ones — on a smaller scale and at a lower cost than The A.P.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/01/business/media/01cnn.html

[jobycom]

1. How expensive can it be to just fax the talking points from the RNC?

[dkf]

2. That seems to be what the AP does.

They had some really bad headlines this year. Serves them right if people starting moving to CNN.

[kenny blankenship]

3. Now you can get ¾ the accuracy for only ½ the cost!!!

Which would you rather have in your pockets- that last piddling 25% worth of accuracy, which nobody notices anyway? OR HALF THE MONEY YOU WOULD HAVE OTHERWISE SPENT!

[w4rma]

4. A move from a non-profit wire service to a for-profit one? Either the quality or the price will be

worse.

[FrenchieCat]

5. If the AP hadn't proven themselves to be terrible this election season.....

I might object to CNN, who is not any better.

Perhaps the competition will allow both to comtemplate actually reporting real news instead of the editorials they currently write.

Again, CNN stinks, but AP doesn't smell any better.

[KharmaTrain]

6. AP's Long Overstayed Their Welcome

Since UPI went under in the late 80's, AP has had the wire biz all to themselves...rasing rates while cheapening the product. Many papers and stations have gone to dropping the service and "cribbing" off the internet...CNN smells a quick buck to be made.

[FrenchieCat]

7. Yep. This year, the AP went off the reservation totally.......

making shit up, fueling rumors, reporting 1/2 truths as facts, injecting opinion, etc.....

It was scary considering how widespread their distribution of any given article can be!

[Ichingcarpenter]

9. Notice when Rupert Murdoch got on the board of AP it really went down hill

Rupert Murdoch joins Associated Press board.»


Today, the Associated Press announced at its annual meeting that Rupert Murdoch, chairman and chief executive officer of News Corp., is joining its board of directors. Three other media moguls are also joining the board, including Sam Zell, who recently “took control of Tribune Co. after leading a buyout that resulted in the publicly traded company becoming private.”

http://thinkprogress.org/2008/04/14/rupert-murdoch-joins-associated-press-board/

CNN isn't that much better either

[Javaman]

8. only half the news, half the time. nt