Pressure of Truth
The news, with the spin made visible.
Outlet profile

Associated Press

U.S. center to center-left

Owned byNot-for-profit news cooperative owned collectively by approximately 1,400 U.S. newspaper and broadcast member organizations; no single private owner or government entity
FundingPrimarily content licensing fees paid by member and subscriber news organizations (roughly 82% of revenue); supplemented by broadcast services, AI content licensing deals (including with OpenAI), philanthropic grants via an affiliated 501(c)(3) arm, and a growing direct-consumer donation program
On the administrationbroadly critical

Background

The Associated Press was founded in 1846 by five New York City newspapers — the New York Sun, New York Herald, New York Courier and Enquirer, Journal of Commerce, and New York Evening Press — to share telegraph costs while covering the Mexican-American War. It grew into the world's largest and oldest newswire cooperative, today distributing content to thousands of newspapers, broadcasters, and digital outlets globally. Operating as a not-for-profit cooperative, AP has long positioned itself as a neutral, fact-based service; independent analysts at outlets like AllSides and Media Bias/Fact Check rate it as center or slightly left-center, pointing to occasional left-leaning story framing and a pattern of fact-checking more conservative than liberal claims. Its core revenue has historically come from member licensing fees, but that stream has faced pressure as the media industry consolidates; AP has responded with AI licensing deals, expanded philanthropy, and consumer donations. In February 2025, the Trump White House barred AP reporters from the Oval Office, Air Force One, and other press-pool venues because AP declined to use 'Gulf of America.' AP sued; a federal district court initially ordered access restored, but the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals reversed that ruling 2-1 in mid-2025, allowing the ban to continue. As of late 2025, AP was pursuing further appeals on First Amendment grounds, making its conflict with the administration one of the most prominent press-access disputes of the term.

Sources

  1. Associated Press — Wikipedia
  2. How the Associated Press Got Its Start 175 Years Ago — Smithsonian Magazine
  3. Associated Press Media Bias — AllSides
  4. Associated Press (AP News) — Bias and Credibility — Media Bias/Fact Check
  5. How Associated Press is future-proofing revenues — Press Gazette
  6. The White House bans the AP indefinitely over 'Gulf of Mexico' — CNN Business
  7. Judge orders White House to give AP access to Oval Office — NPR
  8. Court Rules Trump White House Can Ban AP Over 'Gulf of America' Issue — Variety
  9. In Gulf of America case, AP renews legal fight to end White House ban — Washington Post
  10. RCFP: White House's AP press access ban violates First Amendment

Profile compiled 2026-07-16; refreshed when ownership, funding, or the administration changes.

← Back to track record