The Related Press is making cutbacks in workers because the not-for-profit information group seeks to “speed up” its digital-first focus, in line with Daisy Veerasingham, the AP’s president and CEO.
The AP will cut back its workforce by 8% by a mix of voluntary buyout affords and layoffs, Veerasingham wrote in a memo to workers Monday, a duplicate of which was obtained by Selection.
The reductions are needed because the AP “should evolve to align with altering buyer and market wants,” she wrote. “Everyone knows this can be a time of transformation within the media sector. Our clients — each who they’re and what they want from us — are altering quickly. That is why we’ve targeted on delivering a digital-first information report. We now have to speed up on this path. Doing so would require making some tough modifications so we are able to make investments extra absolutely in our future.”
In March 2024, two giant newspaper chains — Gannett, writer of USA As we speak and publications in 220 U.S. markets, and McClatchy, whose titles embody the Miami Herald — mentioned they’d largely cease utilizing content material from the AP (aside from election information), citing cost-cutting measures. On the time, an AP spokesperson mentioned the choices wouldn’t have a “materials influence” on its income.
The AP’s digital-first journalism was “essential” in its protection of the 2024 U.S. elections, “the place the utilization of our dwell video, information, excellent visuals and interesting interactives was unprecedented,” Veerasingham added.
The AP Information Guild, which is affiliated with the NewsGuild, a sector of the Communication Staff of America, instructed members in an e-mail Monday that the information org had recognized 121 union workers (aged 54 1/2 or older) who’re eligible for a voluntary buyout provide.
The information org will provide a voluntary separation plan to “a small variety of eligible workers, primarily based on division, position and size of employment” within the U.S. by a tentative settlement with the AP Information Guild, in line with Veerasingham. The settlement is topic to union ratification.
Along with the buyout affords, “as we modernize our merchandise and operations, we are going to eradicate some positions throughout the group,” Veerasingham instructed staffers. Lower than half of the 8% workforce reductions will have an effect on the information division, she wrote. The majority of the cuts can be within the U.S., however the AP stays “dedicated to our 50-state footprint,” in line with Veerasingham.
“I do know that is tough information, and there can be a interval of uncertainty as we work by these modifications,” Veerasingham mentioned.
Based in 1846, the AP says 4 billion individuals worldwide “see AP journalism on daily basis.” The org says it employs journalists in almost 100 nations and in all 50 U.S. states.
“As a not-for-profit information group, AP has been impartial and free from affect for almost two centuries,” Veerasingham wrote within the memo. “We’ve got persevered not by probability, however by being intentional about adapting to business modifications.”
Veerasingham, who beforehand was the org’s EVP and COO, assumed the position of AP’s president and CEO Jan. 1, 2022. She succeeded retiring president and CEO Gary Pruitt to turn out to be the 14th chief of the AP in historical past.
