The Associated Press confirmed it was laying off an unspecified number of U.S.-based journalists on Friday, part of a restructuring announced last month that would turn the news organization's focus away from print journalism and toward visual journalism and other revenue sources.
“This is part of the restructuring we announced last month to align our operations with what our top customers need from us today,” an AP spokesman, Patrick Maks, said in an email.
He declined to give numbers or to say whether the layoffs would conclude on Friday.
“It’s never easy to part ways with valued colleagues — we are appreciative of their contributions to the AP and wish them all the best,” wrote Maks, the news outlet's director of media relations and corporate communications.
The layoffs, which had been expected, come about a month after AP, one of the world’s oldest and most influential news organizations, offered buyouts to more than 120 journalists based in the United States. About 40 subsequently volunteered and were accepted, according to the News Media Guild, the union that represents AP journalists.
The guild said it did not know how many journalists were being laid off. For those affected, Friday was their final day of work.
Tony Winton, the guild’s administrator, said the union had received an email just before 10 a.m. Friday from an AP human resources official saying the company was planning to implement layoffs, and the last day of work was Friday. He said no other information was provided.
“The Guild has asked the AP for details,” Winton said. “We will stand by our members and ensure that all contract rights under our collective bargaining agreement with AP are protected."
Julie Pace, executive editor and senior vice president of the AP, said in an interview last month that AP’s goal was to reduce its global staff by less than 5%. The company does not say how many journalists it employs.
Pace said at the time that the AP “is not in trouble.”
“We’re making these changes from a position of strength, but we’re doing so now to recognize our changing customer base,” she said.
Over the past four years, the AP’s revenue from newspapers has declined by 25%. Gannett and McClatchy, two of the largest traditional newspaper publishers, dropped AP in 2024.
AP customers now are dominated by broadcast, digital and technology companies. Kristin Heitmann, senior vice president and chief revenue officer, said last month that the company had seen a 200% growth in revenue from technology companies over the same period.
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Former AP media writer David Bauder contributed to this report.
