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Outlet profile

Associated Press (via The Globe and Mail)

U.S. center to center-left

Owned byNot-for-profit news cooperative owned collectively by its U.S. member newspapers and broadcasters (more than 1,300 members); no single corporate parent or individual owner. The Globe and Mail, a Canadian newspaper, distributes AP content as a licensed wire subscriber.
FundingPrimary revenue comes from licensing fees and subscriptions paid by member and client news organizations worldwide. Supplemented by philanthropic grants from foundations — AP reported receiving $60.9 million in grants across 81 awards as of 2023, including support from the Knight Foundation for reporting on democracy, science, health, and climate.
On the administrationbroadly critical

Background

The AP was founded in 1846 by five New York City newspapers — including the New York Sun and New York Herald — to share the cost of transmitting reports from the Mexican-American War by telegraph. It grew into a global newswire, eventually incorporating as a nonprofit cooperative so that all revenue is reinvested into newsgathering rather than paid to shareholders. Throughout the 20th century it became the dominant U.S. wire service, with bureaus in nearly every country and a reputation for factual, straight-news reporting. Media rating organizations differ modestly on its bias: Media Bias/Fact Check rates it 'left-center,' AllSides rates it 'lean left,' and Ad Fontes Media places it near center. Critics on the right point to story selection and framing on immigration, LGBTQ+ issues, and the January 6, 2021 Capitol riot as evidence of liberal tilt; the AP contests those characterizations. Beginning in February 2025, the Trump White House barred AP reporters from Oval Office events, citing the agency's refusal to use 'Gulf of America' in its style guide; a federal judge ordered access restored, but the administration responded by eliminating the wire-service slot from the White House press pool rotation entirely. AP filed a federal lawsuit and publicly stated the administration was acting to control coverage through government retaliation. The conflict marks one of the most direct confrontations between a U.S. administration and a major wire service in modern history.

Sources

  1. Associated Press – Wikipedia
  2. Associated Press Media Bias | AllSides
  3. AP (Associated Press) Bias and Credibility | Media Bias/Fact Check
  4. The Trump White House shut out the AP. They keep showing up anyway. | Washington Post
  5. The Trump White House is axing the wire service spot from the coverage pool | CNN Business
  6. In-Depth: The Nuanced Ownership of The Associated Press Illuminated | Saint Augustine's University
  7. AP | Bias and Reliability | Ad Fontes Media

Profile compiled 2026-07-11; refreshed when ownership, funding, or the administration changes.

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