AP to slash staff by 8% as major news outlets stop buying its content

The Associated Press (AP) acknowledged its financial problems Monday as it began offering buyout packages to some employees and laying off others, downsizing by 8 percent. The go-to news organization that has been providing stories that are ready to print or broadcast for decades is downsizing as it focuses on digital news gathering, the outlet reported. Some major oulets have stopped buying its conent. 

The AP is experiencing some of the financial losses that other mainstream media outlets have seen accelerate in recent years. CNN is also reportedly laying off hundreds of staff, including on-air talent, before the end of the year. The oultlet said those who qualify for a buyout, which includes severance pay and some healthcare insurance for 18 months, would be informed by the end of business on Monday. Those getting axed would get the news in the next few weeks.

Some of the AP’s issues accelerated in 2024 when both the Gannett and McClatchy news chains, which control around 230 outlets including USA today, said they would no longer purchase news from the outlet. Although the outlet sells its materials directly to the consumer on the internet, much of its business is still conducted with member news outlets who pay a monthly or yearly fee for access.

The AP, founded in 1846, used to pride itself on being the largest news service in the world, providing news with reporters stationed around the globe. The AP has said that less than half of those affected would be directly producing the news.

A news and media union, the News Media Guild, revealed that 121 members would get buyouts from the company, however the outlet would not confirm the numbers exactly.

“We all know this is a time of transformation in the media sector,” Daisy Veerasingham, the AP’s president and CEO, told staff in a Monday morning memo. “Our customers — both who they are and what they need from us — are changing rapidly. This is why we’ve focused on delivering a digital-first news report. We now need to accelerate on this path.”