e-Media frenzy adds to AP’s prominence

In the latest post in our Marcom A to Z blog series, A for Associated Press, Anna Baxter Kirk discussed the growing prominence of the Associated Press, attributable mainly to a greater reliance on syndicated news as budgets and staffs are cut at publications across the country. I agree, and want to add that in my experience the Associated Press’ prominence is growing also because of the instant accessibility of the World Wide Web and the truly global news platform it provides.

On Monday, AP reporter Lisa Rathke posted an article, Greener diet reduces dairy cows’ methane burps, in which our client, Dairy Management Inc., was quoted. It could have been the catchy headline or the intrigue of cow burps, because within 24 hours, the article was posted or linked to on more than 10,000 Web sites. Talk about a quick way to spread your message.

This coverage far surpasses the AP direct network, which includes 1,700 U.S. daily, weekly, non-English and college newspapers; 5,000 radio and television outlets and 850 AP Radio News audio affiliates. The story crawled through the Internet via online news and blog postings, many of which have their own RSS feeds. This led to tweets and forum discussions as Web surfers referred the article to friends and followers all over the world.

The AP is one of the most trusted news sources. On the Web, this credibility, along with its 243 bureaus that are present in 97 countries, helped spread a consistent message about the steps the U.S. dairy industry is taking to become even more sustainable. It also told the story of a few Vermont farmers who are successfully finding ways to improve the health of their cows, their communities and their bottom line.