The Associated Press is not in itself a profit-making concern, being purely co-operative, and has nothing whatever to do with any advertising. Its papers, which include those of all languages, creeds and politics, are assessed according to the expenditure involved in gathering and distributing the home and foreign news.
Over its own telegraph wires the Associated Press sends through its own telegraph operators, east, west, north and south, the news of the moment.
SOME QUICK WORK.
This is received in its branch offices in all the important towns throughout the United States, and transmitted to the papers. The result of last year’s Derby was in the New York office of the Associated Press, nearly 3,000 miles away, twenty-five seconds after “Rock Sand” had passed the winning post, and was published in San Francisco, about 7,000 miles from Epsom, two minutes afterwards.
Interesting as is this system whereby the news of America and the outside world is simultaneously distributed to the American papers—a system of mechanical ingenuity and organization that would require several columns to describe adequately—it must be almost of secondary importance to English readers compared with the influence wielded by this American news agency over matters British and European.
The Associated Press has treaty relations with the three great European news agencies, viz., Reuter’s, which supplies Great Britain, Greater Britain, all the British possessions, Egypt and the Far East, except Tonquin, with their news. Havas, which covers the newsfield of France, and through its subsidiary agencies all the Latin countries, including South America; and Wolff’s, which from Berlin controls and distributes the news of Germany and all the Teutonic countries, and, through allies, the news of Russia, Austria-Hungary, the Slav countries, Scandinavia and Danish territory.
These three European agencies in turn rely upon tributary agencies such as the Telbureau, in St. Petersburg; the Stefani, in Rome; the Fabrin, in Madrid, and the Corresponz, in Vienna—all official voices of Government opinion.
NO SALES IN ENGLAND.
These European agencies and their tributaries constitute one great clearing-house of news. Havas gathers the news of France primarily into Paris; thence it radiates throughout the world: to Reuter for England, to the Associated Press for America, to Stefani for Italy, and so on. In this way a budget comprising the news of the world appears day by day.
Not content with receiving for its papers the news of Europe through the agencies already mentioned, the Associated Press has established in practically all the European capitals, bureaus of its own. In London the Associated Press keeps a large staff, though no attempt is made to sell a single item of news to English papers. All their work is to gather news and send it to America.