AP to launch wide range of collaborative new digital initiatives

The Associated Press will pursue an expanded range of digital initiatives for news providers to create new consumer experiences for the growing array of digital news outlets. The organization's board directed AP to promptly undertake work on a range of shared opportunities on behalf of its members, including working with content distributors, search engines and social networks. It also directed The Associated Press to begin developing shared services and capabilities that benefit the entire news industry, such as product design, user registration, advertising, and billing and e-commerce. The Board's action empowers AP to negotiate with device manufacturers, platform providers and other content distributors concerning business models, products and financial arrangements as well as to speak for the news industry as it works with search engines and others to improve the discovering of breaking news.