It is no secret that certain TeleRead bloggers have little love for the Associated Press after its hastily-retracted restrictive “fair use” policies. So it is tempting to cast this story in the light of “is the AP on its way out?”
That would probably be going too far. Still, it is interesting that the Chicago Tribune is experimenting with going cold-turkey: they are going one week with as little AP content as possible to see if it is feasible to cease using AP stories entirely when their contract expires in October 2010.
As the article points out,
Some newspapers have determined that shared wire content that is available to readers from many other outlets is worth less to them than unique, proprietary content, especially online. Coupled with reductions in the space allocated for news in print, papers are weighing whether there’s the same need for Associated Press content as in the past.
Were the AP’s “fair use” policies a sign of desperation? Will the Tribune decide to kick the AP habit, and other papers follow suit? It will be interesting to find out.
