It’s hard to imagine: the Star Tribune without the Associated Press.
But that’s what could happen in 2010; the region’s biggest news source recently sent the nation’s most prominent wire service the required two years' cancellation notice, an AP spokesman confirms.
Earlier this year, Strib editor Nancy Barnes was one of eight big-city newspaper editors who co-signed a letter that criticized AP’s rate structure and urged price cuts. "Editors of newspapers are not getting meaningful help from AP when they need it most,” the letter stated. “They need help now. Without relief from AP, the organization's members must make even more drastic cuts in their own newsroom staffs. Essential coverage is sacrificed."