Outlet profile

Associated Press (via NY1/Spectrum News)

U.S. center-left

Owned byNot-for-profit news cooperative collectively owned by more than 1,300 U.S. member newspapers and broadcasters; distributed through NY1/Spectrum News, which is owned by Charter Communications

FundingPrimarily member licensing fees and global content subscriptions; supplemented by philanthropic grants (reported $60.9 million from 81 foundations in 2023, including progressive-leaning donors such as the Omidyar Network)

On the administrationbroadly critical

Background

The AP was founded in 1846 when five New York City newspapers pooled resources to share dispatches from the Mexican-American War, and it was formally incorporated as a cooperative in Illinois in 1892. Unlike most American outlets of its era, it supplied content to both Democratic- and Republican-aligned papers, establishing an early norm of factual, nonpartisan wire reporting. Over the following century it expanded into radio, television, and digital distribution, becoming the world's largest newsgathering cooperative with bureaus in more than 100 countries. Its cooperative structure—where revenue is reinvested rather than paid as dividends—has historically shielded it from the commercial pressures facing for-profit outlets. In recent years, however, the AP has drawn scrutiny over its reliance on philanthropic grants; in 2023 alone it received $60.9 million from 81 foundations, including some with progressive ties, prompting criticism from conservative media critics and a Wall Street Journal report in early 2025. AllSides rated AP's wire content 'Lean Left' in an April 2025 editorial review, citing patterns of word choice, slant, and framing. In February 2025, the Trump White House barred AP reporters from pooled Oval Office and Air Force One access after the AP declined to adopt the administration's preferred name 'Gulf of America'; a federal district court ordered the ban lifted in April 2025, but the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals reversed that ruling 2-1 in June 2025, and litigation remained active as of mid-2026.

Sources

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

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