Idaho paper cancels AP service
Michael Gay August 18th, 2008
Calling it “the worst value for anything we purchase,” the Publisher of The Post Register of Idaho Falls has sent a letter to the AP announcing the end of their relationship effective August 15, 2010, according to Editor and Publisher. (AP requires a 2 year notice before canceling service.) It’s a bold move, but Publisher Roger Plothow says, “[W]e’ll use that time to become essentially 100 percent local, which is probably where we’re headed eventually anyway.” The paper’s fees for 2009 would have been $114,000.
4 Comments Add your own
1. discreet_chaos | August 18th, 2008 at 7:45 pm
While I don’t doubt the public reasoning, I can’t really speak to that topic. But, I do know that the “Jackson Hole News” is a pretty thick tabloid-style paper which seems to be about 90% (or more) wire service stories and it’s distributed for free.
I’ve never been to Idaho Falls, so I don’t know if the reverse is true, but in Jackson, wherever you find the “local” paper, you also find the more traditional product from Idaho Falls and there’s a lot of cross-pollination between the two towns.
2. Don Day | August 18th, 2008 at 8:28 pm
Bold move, and one of the first drips in an eventual flood I’d estimate.
114k would buy a good web developer and a couple of reporters in IF…
This is the same paper that requires you have a paid subscription to view content online - which leaves a huge oppurtunity in that market… For someone else.
3. Anonymous | August 18th, 2008 at 9:33 pm
Now if only 580 KIDO and KTVB wouldn’t have exactly the same headlines most of the time…
4. Brink | August 18th, 2008 at 11:18 pm
It’s okay, they’ll just steal the information off online sites that use AP and rewrite it. Why buy the cow when you can just take the milk?
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