Terry Heaton’s Take On The AP

As Mr. Heaton is a heckuva lot smarter than me, and being that I agree with him on this and am having a moment of intellectual superiority because we are on the same page.

I’m trying to ride the coattails of smart people. He’s talking about the potential demise of the Association Press.

This should surprise no one, for, as I’ve oft-written in the past, the Internet by-passes middlemen, and it is no respecter of companies. The networks even by-pass affiliates in delivering their programs directly to viewers these days. This “by-pass” trait inherent to the Web has been discussed by minds much greater than mine, only they use the term “route around” to describe the idea.

“The net regards censorship as a failure, and routes around it.” John Gilmore, SUN Microsystems.
“The net regards hierarchy as a failure, and routes around it.” Mark Pesce, Writer, consultant, Sydney, Australia
“The web regards centralization as a failure, and routes around it… by moving to the edge.” Stowe Boyd

My take: The net regards the middleman as a failure, and routes around it.”

The Associated Press is in the midst of a big, good, old-fashion fail. The kicker is that the rules are constantly changing. If dinosaurs don’t pay attention, they are going to get left behind.

I haven’t had the AP in years at the small paper I work at. It’s more than fine. I get my information off the net, local connection because I hit the beat and through bloggers.

Just saying.