America 250 The AP in History
FILE - Ed Kennedy, Chief of the Associated Press staff in North Africa wears a metal helmet in this March 1944 photo made at the Anzio beachhead in Italy. Kennedy was dismissed by the AP after he bypassed military censors and was the first journalist to file a firsthand account of German officials surrounding unconditionally to Allied commanders at a former schoolhouse in Reims, France, signaling that World War II was over. Sixty-seven years later, AP President and Chief Executive Officer Tom Curley said that Kennedy was right to stand up to the censors, and should have been commended, not fired.
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Precisely 180 years ago, a handful of New York news executives looking to save money on coverage had an idea. Today, it is called The Associated Press. Five newspaper publishers in New York City agreed in 1846 to pool resources in order to speed the delivery of news about the U.S. war with Mexico using a pony-express relay through Alabama to a telegraph office. Those beginnings gave birth to an organization that in many ways became the backbone of the news industry. The AP claims some 4 billion people, nearly half of the world’s population, see news produced by the company on a typical day. The company has chronicled the nation’s big moments for much of the 250-year history of the American republic.
