AP enhancing overnight coverage to benefit customers worldwide

Starting Sept. 6, The Associated Press will implement overnight coverage changes at New York headquarters to provide the latest look ahead at upcoming news and events for broadcasters, online and mobile outlets, newspapers and others in time zones across the world.

In the Aug. 31 advisory to member editors below, Tamer Fakahany, the deputy managing editor who oversees AP’s Nerve Center, says: “We have been working closely with customers around the world on their needs amid a radically changing media landscape. We believe these changes will benefit many of them significantly.”


Editors:

The Associated Press is improving its communications and release times for stories during the overnight hours on the East Coast in the United States to adjust to the changing needs of customers worldwide.

These changes will help numerous customers: Broadcasters in North and South American time zones focusing on earlier morning programs; online and mobile outlets in those time zones targeting morning drive-time audiences; North and South American newspapers with late deadlines; European, African and other outlets in similar time zones during morning commute hours; and Asian customers during afternoon commute hours.

Beginning Sept. 6, the AP will:

— Move up the release time of “Early Riser” stories to 3 a.m. ET/0700 GMT. These attention-getting must-reads, launched several years ago to target U.S. audiences in the early hours, spotlight exclusive AP reporting throughout the world. By moving up the release time, the stories can not only benefit drive-time online, broadcast and mobile audiences in North and South American time zones, but West Coast newspapers with late deadlines and international customers targeting different audiences at different times of the day.

— Provide a new tipsheet: 10 Things to Know for Today, a daily item filed at 5 a.m. ET/ 0900 GMT highlighting late-breaking and overnight news, upcoming events, AP exclusives and multimedia packages. The AP is in a unique position to publish this concise, daily list amid a flood of information hitting all consumers and customers worldwide.

— Increase the flow of “AP NewsNow” stories in the overnight hours Eastern Time. These concise, quick update items are aimed to provide the latest look ahead at upcoming news and events, in the U.S. and internationally.

These changes will be implemented by the AP’s Nerve Center, the operation at the agency’s New York headquarters that coordinates with AP’s regional desks and customers worldwide to provide the best and most comprehensive coverage across formats.

“We have been working closely with customers around the world on their needs amid a radically changing media landscape,” said Tamer Fakahany, the AP deputy managing editor who oversees the Nerve Center. “We believe these changes will benefit many of them significantly.”