THE PRACTITIONER

In an interesting turn of events in the news industry, CNN, a Time Warner Inc. company, will stop using service and materials from the Associated Press to focus on developing and delivering its own news and information to CNN, CNN.com and CNN Radio, reported several news sources yesterday and today.

As part of the change, CNN will expand its CNN Wires team to get information on TV more quickly and is also launching CNN Share to “aggregate editorial content and facilitate easy distribution and sharing across platforms.”  Additionally, “infrastructure improvements” will bring  a new alert system for breaking news, tighter news integration across all entities, and new tools to expand information gathering from social media and emerging sources. This information was included in an internal memo distributed by CNN Worldwide President Jim Walton.

In a statement issued yesterday, Paul Colford, AP Director of Media Relations, retaliated, saying:

It is unfortunate that CNN’s viewers will no longer have access to the breaking news and worldwide reporting resources of The Associated Press, the gold standard in journalism. We will continue to provide AP news to other TV networks and tens of thousands of additional broadcast and cable outlets, as well as newspapers, websites and portals around the world.

Following is an excerpt from the Walton memo, which gives you a bit more information:

We are taking an important next step in the content-ownership process we began in 2007 to more fully leverage CNN’s global newsgathering investments. Starting today, CNN newsgathering will be the primary source of all content for all of our platforms and services. We will no longer use AP materials or services. The content we offer will be distinctive, compelling and, I am proud to say, our own.

Beyond the obvious business reasons for this operating shift-the content we spend our money to create should be the content we present, and less reliance on outside sources will mean more to invest in our organization-there are other important motivations. CNN-exclusive content will further differentiate our platforms in the media marketplace. It will provide consumers with the unique news and information experience they expect from CNN. And it will make us more creative, resourceful and collaborative journalists and news professionals.

CNN says it will begin working again with Thomson Reuters Corp.’s wire service to supplement breaking news coverage. The two companies quit working together in 2007 following a price increase.

On the NewsBusters blog, Tom Blumer laid out a series of missteps in reporting AP has allegedly made in recent months, leading us to believe the term “accurate reporting” is more a suggestion than a media guideline.

I’m intrigued by the changes, especially to see how CNN embraces the power of user-generated content and its future plans for the use of social media and CNN Share.  I couldn’t find any more information on the new service than was provided in the memo, but I’ll post a follow up once more detail is revealed.  Until then, what are your thoughts on these changes and their impact on the news industry?