Associated Press will syndicate non-profit investigative journalism

The Associated Press (who once suggested that bloggers should pay for five-word excerpts of its stories, and should be forced to promise not to use those excerpts to make fun of the AP) have found a new progressive streak and announced a plan to syndicate investigative journalism stories financed by nonprofits:

Starting on July 1, the A.P. will deliver work by the Center for Public Integrity, the Investigative Reporting Workshop at American University, the Center for Investigative Reporting, and ProPublica to the 1,500 American newspapers that are A.P. members, which will be free to publish the material...

As they sharply reduce their staffs, many newspapers have cut back on investigations or given them up entirely. When there are barely enough reporters to cover the daily news from the local courthouse and the school board, it is harder to justify assigning someone to an in-depth project that might take weeks or months.

At the same time, independent groups doing investigative journalism have grown in number and size, fueled by foundations and wealthy patrons, and are offering their work to newspapers, magazines, television and radio news programs, and news Web sites. ProPublica was created in 2007 and the Investigative Reporting Workshop in 2008. The Center for Investigative Reporting has operated for more than three decades, and is doubling in size. The four groups combined have more than 50 professional journalists.

A.P. in Deal to Deliver Nonprofits' Journalism (via /.)

[#1 posted by BadStoryDan, June 13, 2009 10:01 PM]

So.. the reporters get paid by their respective non-profit, therefore there's less likelihood that they will be pressured to push bs stories through? This sounds very good, almost too good to be true (from a game theory/economics perspective).

Am I missing something or is this a significant alternative to the traditional shareholder model of doing business?

[#2 posted by jjasper, June 14, 2009 5:03 AM]

I wonder who at AP will get laid off now that they have spiffy new outsourced content.

[#3 posted by Kevin Kenny, June 14, 2009 7:06 AM]

This story vaguely worries me. Does it imply that the reporters will have a voice only if what they have to say appeals to the AP members' advertisers? As badstorydan (#1) says, the story at face value sounds too good to be true.

[#4 posted by Anonymous, June 14, 2009 12:37 PM]

btw, Associated Press is actually a nonprofit too.

[#5 posted by mackenzi, June 14, 2009 1:54 PM]

What?!? A non-profit media outfit? Wait 'til Bloomberg hears about this. Revolutionary! Pirate tea, that's what I feel like now.