By GREG BROWNELL
Third Vice President

Greg Brownell

It was only after making a call to the Albany Associated Press bureau that I found out what was going on. The AP was cutting back on some of the items it sends to newspapers that don't purchase the highest level of wire service.

That's a concern for those of us at small newspapers, because most of us don't get the full datastream, the highest level of service from AP. We get lower levels of service that are cheaper, but offer fewer stories.

Paul Stevens, the AP's vice president for the central region, said the lines of demarcation among the levels of wire service had become blurred over the years. Simply put, some of us had been getting service we weren't entitled to. The amount of "bleeding" into the lower levels of wire service differed from region to region.

Several months ago, the AP began reorganizing its wire offerings so that each level of service was getting what it was supposed to get. To its credit, AP backed off on some initial cutbacks (partly due, no doubt, to complaints by some of us). They restored optional leads on certain pro sports for most levels of wire, for instance.

I still feel some angst each time a new season comes around as I wonder if something might not show up. But Stevens said he's gotten few complaints during the past five or six months, and I must admit I haven't run into any major surprises lately.

If you're not getting something and you want to know why, Stevens said you should contact the AP bureau chief in your region. If it's a mistake, they can restore it. They might be able to offer some alternatives, like purchasing wire service from an adjacent state to pick up events from that region.

But if it's not on the list of what you're supposed to get, you're not going to get it. And in most cases, there's no way to purchase individual elements on a case-by-case basis.

Most of us don't spend a lot of time thinking about the level of our wire service, but it's something we may need to think about more in the future.

The AP will be moving to eAP — the Electronic Associated Press — sometime in the next two years. It's a delivery system that will give each newspaper a better opportunity to select what it needs and doesn't need.

Stevens said the details are still being worked out as to how eAP will operate; whether we'll select our entire wire from a buffet or whether we'll have an opportunity to add extra items to the service level we already get. Stevens said member newspapers will be involved in that process.

It sounds like an improvement. Right now, you have to pick a level of wire service and you take what you get. There's no opportunity to cherry pick, outside of a few special offerings.

But we don't know how much it will cost to add the extras under eAP, and many small newspapers will be reluctant to spend more on the wire if the cost is significant. I hope the AP will use a sliding scale to give smaller papers a break.

It might be wise to make mention of this to your upper management. We're a long ways away from making any decisions, but you can let them know you want to be a part of the process if choices are to be made.

• • •

You can reach Greg Brownell of the Glens Falls (N.Y.) Post-Star via e-mail at brownell@poststar.com.