History of the Associated Press

    

    The Associated Press (AP) has existed for 170 years and has worked aimlessly to bring accurate breaking news covering the world's biggest stories. AP is an American non-profit news agency stationed out in New York. The Associated Press was formed in May 1846 by Moses Yale Beach. Mr. Beach was an American inventor of originating print and newspaper entrepreneur, and a developer of popular journalism. The AP composed of five daily newspapers, The Sun, New York Herald, New York Courier and Enquirer, The Journal of Commerce, and the New York Evening Express. It began by making the sharing the events that underwent in the Mexican-American War available more quickly by having the newspapers working cohesively together rather than against each other. The advantage of multiple newspapers was to avoid duplicated effort by sending one news gatherer to act for the many. Financial gains were then shared by all the news that arrived by the telegraph wire and dividing the expenses evenly. 

    According to Moses Yale Beach biography, his good repute in 1846 influence President James K. Polk to commission him to negotiate peace terms with Mexico. However the war officially ended in February 2, 1848 by signing the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. That treaty added present-day Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming. AP grew under the leadership of Kent Cooper who introduced the telegraph typewriter into newsrooms in 1914. The telegraph typewriter allowed for a quicker form of writing also it allowed for legible handwriting. In 1935, AP launched the wirephoto network which transmitted news photographs over leased private telephone lines on the day they were taken. The wirephoto gave the AP a major advantage over other news media outlets because it allowed photos to be sent over that same day instead of having to wait for days. The wirephoto made reporting more accurate since it allowed for news to be reported the same day the event occur. AP network was only between Chicago, San Francisco to New York but eventually AP news was being transmitted across the United States. 

    In 1945 the Supreme Court of the United States held Associated Press v. United States which stated that the AP had violated the Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890; U.S antitrust law that allows the rule of free competition of those involved. The AP had been violating the act by prohibiting the member newspapers from selling or providing news to nonmember organizations and was very strict and selective on those who can join the AP.  However this may have been a tactic to break down the entire AP organization, however that tactic did not work.