Exclusive: AP launching nonprofit group to raise at least $100M for local news

Exclusive: AP launching nonprofit group to raise at least $100M for local news

The Associated Press is launching an independent sister organization to raise at least $100 million to expand state and local news, its CEO Daisy Veerasingham told Axios.

Why it matters: The new group, a 501(c)3 charitable organization, allows the AP to raise philanthropic funds to support its local news efforts, which it can't do as a not-for-profit organization.

• "It will help to sustain what we do, grow what we do, and add new and incremental journalism services for the industry," Veerasingham told Axios in an interview.

State of play: The new group, called The AP Fund for Journalism, has already been established, but is currently awaiting IRS approval, per Veerasingham.

• The Delaware-incorporated organization will have a board of independent directors for which AP executives are recruiting.
• Veerasingham says she's also looking to hire an executive vice president who will lead the organization day to day.
• The new organization will likely have an administrative staff to grow and support it, but will leverage the AP's overall infrastructure and journalistic footprint, per Veerasingham.

By the numbers: AP has an initial fundraising goal of about $100 million.

• "I haven't put a timeline around that yet, but that's our initial goal," Veerasingham said.

How it works: The new funds will be used to support AP's local journalism efforts, as well as the work of other organizations or services that support local newsrooms, per Veerasingham.

• The allocation of those funds will be up to the organization's independent directors.
• Within the AP, the funds could be used to help build services that can localize big datasets for local newsrooms, Veerasingham said.
• The funding could also help the AP build training and services around artificial intelligence for local newsrooms. (AP inked a two-year licensing and tech-sharing deal with ChatGPT parent OpenAI last year.)
• AP will retain complete editorial control of all journalism it will produce with philanthropic funding from the new organization.

Between the lines: AP has been ramping up its investments in local news coverage ahead of the 2024 election.

Yes, but: The dire financial constraints on many local newsrooms mean they need even more support.

• "The state of local news is at an actual point of critical crisis, and we see this exacerbating further," Veerasingham noted, while adding that news vacuums are increasingly being filled with misinformation.
• Veerasingham said it's hard for outlets to afford to license products, including the AP's, which is where philanthropy can help.

The big picture: More journalism nonprofits are leaning into philanthropy to fill the void left by the collapsing commercial model for local news.

• Last year, a coalition of non-partisan philanthropies announced a plan to commit more than $500 million over the next five years to a new local journalism initiative called "Press Forward."

The bottom line: AP, established in 1846, relies on a strong local news ecosystem to service its member organizations.

• "We felt that this is the ecosystem the AP has supported since its founding and that it's a space that we need to step in and help shore up," Veerasingham said.

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