Tribune newspapers to drop AP in test

Tribune Co, owner of The Chicago Tribune, the Los Angeles Times and several other news outlets, will not use most Associated Press content next week to test whether the financially struggling company can do without it, the Chicago Tribune's website reports.

Tribune said it will use some AP material such as sports statistics and stories it considers vital. The Chicago-based company said it is trying to determine whether severing ties with the news cooperative next fall is a viable option.

The company's television stations and newspapers' online editions will not participate in the experiment. Tribune also owns 23 TV stations, The Baltimore Sun and other dailies.

"AP appreciates and understands that newspapers are looking for ways to confront challenging economic times and one way might be considering how they use content from the AP and other sources," said AP spokesman Paul Colford.

"At the same time, we continue to work with our member newspapers to make sure the AP, which is the gold standard of breaking news, remains a vital interest to newspapers, their publishers and their readers."

Telephone and email messages left late on Monday for Tribune Co spokesman Gary Weitman and Chicago Tribune spokeswoman Kate Mersman weren't immediately returned.

Tribune newspapers' print editions will rely on Tribune staff and several other news sources including Reuters, The New York Times and GlobalPost next week.

Not all the sources are normally available to Tribune papers, according to the company.

Last year, Tribune Co gave the AP a two-year warning that it might drop the service, effective Oct 15, 2010. Tribune Co said at the time that it was keeping its options open while weighing what role AP would play in its future.

As of AP's annual meeting in April, about 180 newspapers - 14 per cent of the AP's US newspaper membership - had threatened to leave the news service. Reasons varied, but many complaints centreed on cost.

The AP Board of Directors in April announced a new $US35 million ($A38.67 million) in rate reductions for 2010 for its member newspapers on top of $US30 million ($A33.15 million) in rate reductions for 2009.

The AP expected the total assessment decreases for papers would average just less than 20 per cent, but will vary widely depending on what content newspapers buy.

The AP also will allow, effective Jan 1, its members to cancel their membership on a one-year notice instead of the current two-year requirement.

Tribune filed for bankruptcy protection in December because of dwindling advertising revenues and a crushing debt load of $US13 billion ($A14.36 billion). Much of that debt was amassed when real estate mogul Sam Zell took the company private in 2007.

Tribune properties across the country have undergone cost cuts, including layoffs.