It’s official: CNN will no longer use content from The Associated Press in its news coverage, Michael Calderone reports for Yahoo! News.
In addition to the obvious cost savings, the move toward “CNN-exclusive content will further differentiate our platforms in the media marketplace,” according to an internal memo from CNN Worldwide President Jim Walton obtained by Calderone; other buzzwords—“creative, resourceful and collaborative”—are also employed. (The exclusive content will be supplemented by breaking news coverage from Reuters, and from an in-house Spanish-language wire service, Calderone writes.)
CNN’s announcement might also be seen as a statement of confidence in its own wire service, which emerged as a potential competitor to the AP in 2008. TV Newser’s Alex Weprin noted last month that the wire service accounts for a small but growing share of the company’s overall revenue, and has been identified internally as “one of the four pillars for growing the news division” and “monetizing ‘content ownership.’ ”
For CNN’s wire service to continue to grow, of course, it’ll have to show that the breadth and quality of its reporting can compete. And who knows? Maybe some of that reporting will even find its way into the network’s primetime line-up.
Greg Marx is an associate editor at CJR. Follow him on Twitter @gregamarx.