French Press Vs AP – The Battle For Media Attention
Many Americans woke up to the news that the economy is slowly recovering from the damage caused by Hurricane Katrina. Although the news was good, many are still looking for some silver lining. The good news, however, is this temporary loss occurred late in December and therefore not early January.
As you well know, the United States government shutdown was triggered by both parties in Congress. Lawmakers blame each other for failing to compromise to get a budget deal passed. President Bush blamed congressional Democrats and said they were responsible for the crisis. Democrats and the news media blamed Bush for the economic slow down. No one was happy with the way the media portrayed Bush as he left office after eight years in office.
While the blame game is continuing, the good news is the American people have an outlet for getting their own news. At Agence France-end (the French name for AP), the news agency has decided to not be a part of the finger-pointing game. Agence France-end is a global news agency providing diverse reporting to both print and television.
Agence France-end is a division of the AP and covers worldwide news. Although its services are not free like those of other news agencies, they do provide valuable resources for any consumer who needs breaking news without fear of censorship. In addition, many members of the news media are saying that the economic slowing has had a positive impact on French journalism in the past two months. This means more reporters are taking the time to follow the news and give their reports accurately and concisely.
There are many other quality news agencies that provide equally good reporting. For example, the Associated Press writes its own news. That service also receives very high ratings among consumers. And then there is the New York Times, which has a reputation for fair and balanced reporting. Other news agencies such as CNN or Al Jazeera America also receive good ratings among viewers, but they are not recognized as a mainstream news service.
The news media business is changing at a rapid pace. It used to be that most news agencies were family-run enterprises, with a staff of journalists who worked together to deliver a well-rounded story. Now the trend is moving toward a one-pointed approach where there is more specialization within a single news agency. Many news agencies now specialize in one particular segment such as sports, technology, entertainment, business, or finance. So while there may still be some family-run companies that operate newsrooms, they are rare.