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

Associated Press (via ABC News)

U.S. center to center-left

Owned byNot-for-profit news cooperative owned collectively by its U.S. member news organizations — newspapers, radio stations, and television broadcasters. ABC News (a Walt Disney Company subsidiary) is a longtime AP subscriber/licensee that publishes AP wire stories on its platforms; it does not own the AP.
FundingPrimarily licensing fees paid by member and subscriber news organizations worldwide; supplemented by advertising and content services, AI data-licensing agreements (including with Google), and philanthropic fundraising through a 501(c)(3) affiliate launched in 2024
On the administrationbroadly critical

Background

The Associated Press was founded in 1846 by five New York City newspapers to pool the cost of telegraphing war dispatches from the Mexican-American War front. It has operated as a member-owned cooperative ever since, with editorial governance shared among its U.S. newspaper and broadcast members. In 1998, AP expanded its video capabilities by purchasing Worldwide Television News from ABC, deepening its broadcast news operation. By the 2010s and 2020s, declining U.S. newspaper revenue forced AP to diversify, adding AI data-licensing deals, content marketing services, and a new philanthropic arm; by 2024, U.S. newspapers accounted for only about 10% of AP revenue, with global broadcasters and international subscribers making up the bulk. Media bias trackers — including AllSides (rated 'lean left') and Media Bias/Fact Check (rated 'left-center') — find AP's straight-news reporting broadly accurate but note mild institutional liberal leanings in framing and fact-check targeting; Ad Fontes Media rates it near-center in bias and highly reliable. AP's relationship with the Trump administration became openly adversarial in February 2025, when the White House barred AP journalists from press pool events after AP declined to use 'Gulf of America' in place of 'Gulf of Mexico'; AP sued, won an initial district-court injunction in April 2025, saw it reversed by the D.C. Circuit on appeal, and was still litigating the case through late 2025 and into 2026.

Sources

  1. Associated Press – Wikipedia
  2. Who Owns AP News – St. Augustine's University
  3. Associated Press Media Bias – AllSides
  4. AP Bias and Credibility – Media Bias/Fact Check
  5. AP Bias and Reliability – Ad Fontes Media
  6. AP sues Trump White House over Gulf of Mexico ban – NPR
  7. Court Rules Trump White House Can Ban AP – Variety
  8. Judge Orders White House to Restore AP Access – NPR
  9. AP Renews Legal Fight to End White House Ban – Washington Post
  10. How AP Is Future-Proofing Its Revenues – Press Gazette

Profile compiled 2026-06-28; refreshed when ownership, funding, or the administration changes.

← Back to track record