Associated Press facts for kids

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The Associated Press

Type	Not-for-profit cooperative
Industry	News media
Founded	May 22, 1846; 179 years ago (1846-05-22)
Headquarters	200 Liberty Street, New York City, New York, U.S.
Area served	Worldwide
Key people	Steven R. Swartz (chairman) Daisy Veerasingham (president and chief executive officer)
Products	Wire service
Revenue	US$510.135 million (2017)
Net income	US$-73.966 million (2017)
Number of employees	3,300

The Associated Press (AP) is a very important news agency in the United States. It's not-for-profit, meaning it doesn't try to make money for owners. Instead, it works like a team, sharing news with its members.

AP was started in 1846 in New York City. It sends news reports to many newspapers, radio stations, and TV channels across the U.S. and around the world. AP has won 58 Pulitzer Prizes, which are big awards for journalism. Many of these awards were for amazing photos.

You might also know AP for its AP Stylebook, which is a guide for writing news. It also runs AP polls for NCAA sports and shares election results in the U.S.

By 2016, over 1,300 news groups used AP's stories. AP has offices in 94 countries and publishes news in English, Spanish, and Arabic. It also has the AP Radio Network, which sends out news and sports updates. Many news groups outside the U.S. pay a fee to use AP's content.

History of AP News
How AP is Run
AP Election Polls
AP Sports Polls
AP Sports Awards
Associated Press Television News (APTN)
AP Stylebook
Awards Received by AP
See also

History of AP News

Logo on the former AP building in New York City

The Associated Press began in May 1846. Five daily newspapers in New York City teamed up. They wanted to share the cost of getting news about the Mexican–American War. This way, they could get news faster and cheaper.

At first, it was called the New York Associated Press (NYAP). Other news groups, like the Western Associated Press, thought NYAP was too powerful. In 1892, some problems were found with how NYAP was sharing news. This led to the Western Associated Press becoming the new Associated Press.

In 1900, the AP moved from Chicago to New York City. This was because laws in New York were better for how AP wanted to work as a team.

Growing and Innovating

Melville Stone led AP from 1893 to 1921. Under his leadership, AP became a very important news agency. Later, Kent Cooper helped AP grow even more, adding offices in South America, Europe, and the Middle East.

In 1914, AP started using "telegraph typewriters," also called teletypewriters. These machines could send news directly to printers. In 1935, AP launched Wirephoto. This was a big deal because it let them send news photos over phone lines on the same day they were taken. This gave AP a huge advantage!

In 1945, a court decision made it easier for other newspapers to join AP. This helped other news agencies grow too. AP started sending news to radio stations in 1941. In 1974, it created its own radio network. In 1994, AP started APTV, which gathered video news from around the world. APTV later joined with another company to become APTN. APTN provides video news to TV stations and websites everywhere.

AP's main goal has always been to gather accurate and fair news. Even with new technology, this mission stays the same. AP now gets news to its members and online customers in many new ways.

AP Online News

AP's news stories are often seen on big websites like Yahoo! and MSN. These sites often use AP as their first source for breaking news. This means AP's role in getting news out quickly is more important than ever.

In 2007, Google started paying to get AP content for Google News. A study in 2017 showed that AP stories were shared and liked more on Facebook than stories from any other English-language news publisher.

AP Milestones Timeline

1849: The first AP news office outside the U.S. opened in Halifax, Nova Scotia. It met ships from Europe to get news before they reached New York.
1876: Mark Kellogg was the first AP reporter to die while reporting the news. This happened at the Battle of the Little Bighorn.
1893: Melville E. Stone became the general manager of the new AP. He helped it become a top news agency.
1899: AP used Guglielmo Marconi's wireless telegraph to cover a yacht race. This was the first time this new technology was used for news.
1914: AP started using the teleprinter. This machine sent news directly to printers over telegraph wires.
1935: AP launched WirePhoto, the world's first service for sending photos over wires. The first photo sent was of an airplane crash.
1938: AP moved its main office to 50 Rockefeller Plaza in New York City. It stayed there for 66 years.
1941: AP started sending news to radio stations.
1943: Ruth Cowan Nash became the first American woman war reporter for AP.
1974: AP launched the Associated Press Radio Network.
1987: AP started using only color photography.
1994: AP launched APTV, a global video news agency.
2004: AP moved its headquarters to a new building in New York City.
2006: AP joined YouTube.
2008: AP launched AP Mobile, an app for phones. It was one of the first news apps for the iPhone.
2010: AP launched apps for the World Cup Soccer, giving real-time news.
2017: AP moved its headquarters again to 200 Liberty Street, New York City.
2018: AP started using AP Votecast to get election results.

How AP is Run

The AP is guided by a group of people called a board of directors. These directors are elected to help make decisions for the organization.

AP Election Polls

AP is the only group that collects and checks election results in every city and county across the United States. This includes races for president, senators, representatives, and governors. Many major news groups use AP's information before they announce who won an election.

AP uses a strong network of local reporters. These reporters know their areas well and work with local officials. AP also checks county websites and state data. A research team then looks at other details like population groups and how many people voted early. In 2018, AP started a new system called AP VoteCast to make its data even more reliable.

AP has been collecting and sharing election data since 1848. It is known for being fair and accurate. In the 2016 election, AP correctly called all the presidential and congressional races in every state.

AP Sports Polls

AP also creates polls for many college sports in the United States. The AP college football rankings started in 1936. Since 1989, they have listed the top 25 teams. The final poll for each season is released after all the big bowl games.

The AP college basketball poll helps show which teams are getting national attention. This poll began in 1949. It now lists the top 25 teams. The final poll for basketball is released before the big NCAA tournament.

AP Sports Awards

AP gives out awards for different sports.

Baseball Awards

AP used to give out a Manager of the Year Award for Major League Baseball. This award was stopped in 2001.

Basketball Awards

Every year, AP names the winners of its AP College Basketball Player of the Year and AP College Basketball Coach of the Year awards. It also honors a group of top All-American players.

Football Awards

AP gives out several awards for professional football (NFL):

AP NFL Coach of the Year
AP NFL Most Valuable Player
AP NFL Offensive Player of the Year
AP NFL Defensive Player of the Year
AP NFL Rookie of the Year
AP NFL Comeback Player of the Year

Associated Press Television News (APTN)

The APTN Building in London

In 1994, Associated Press Television (APTV) was started in London. Its job was to provide news videos to TV stations. In 1998, AP bought another video news company, and they combined to form APTN.

APTN now publishes 70,000 videos and 6,000 hours of live video each year. It also offers live video channels for broadcasters and digital publishers. AP was the first news agency to launch a live video news service in 2003.

AP Stylebook

The AP Stylebook is a writing guide used by many journalists and news organizations. It helps make sure news stories are clear, consistent, and easy to read. It covers things like grammar, spelling, and how to use numbers or titles. It's updated regularly to keep up with new words and changes in language.

Awards Received by AP

AP has won 58 Pulitzer Prizes, which are very important awards for journalism. Thirty-five of these awards were for photography. In 2024, AP won an Oscar for the film 20 Days in Mariupol. This film was a true story about the early days of a conflict in Ukraine.