Minnesota AP Association Wire Watch

March 11-13, 2003

Participating newspapers:
Albert Lea Tribune
Austin Daily Herald
Bemidji Pioneer
Daily Tribune of Hibbing
Duluth News Tribune
Marshall Independent
Minneapolis Star Tribune
Red Wing Republican Eagle
St. Cloud Times
St. Paul Pioneer Press
Stillwater Gazette

Non-participants:
Brainerd Dispatch
Crookston Times
Fairmont Sentinel
Faribault Daily News
Fergus Falls Daily Journal
International Falls Daily Journal
Mankato Free Press
Minneapolis Finance & Commerce
New Ulm Journal
Owatonna People's Press
Rochester Post-Bulletin
Mesabi Daily News
West Central Tribune
Winona Daily News
Worthington Daily Globe
Fargo Forum
Grand Forks Herald

Anne Jacobson, news editor of the Red Wing Republican Eagle and MAPA Board president at the time of the Wire Watch, prepared this executive summary of the results:

The Associated Press Minneapolis Bureau consistently responds to members' needs in the quality, quantity and timeliness of the state news report. Members made that clear both in what they said and didn't say in the 2003 Wire Watch.

During the three-day watch March 11-13, the Legislature was in session, state high school tournaments were under way and the nation was just days away from war with Iraq. Papers carried news on all of these things and more.

Newshole is scarce in the best of times. Given the sluggish economy and the plethora of news, space was at a premium during the Wire Watch. AP staffers' concise stories and helpfulness to members was particularly appreciated. There were no complaints about delays in breaking news stories. No substantial story was missing in the report. The biggest complaint falls on the members themselves, and that is more photos and mug shots to accompany stories.

Compliments ranged from general to specific. Here are some examples:

"I'd say the AP report for the three days of the Wire Watch was solid, as dependable as it normally it. We used a majority of the stories that were sent each day and I found them to be of good quality - both in how they were written and the journalism within them. (Dana Yost, Marshall Independent)

MN-Lindner Homosexuals (March 11). "Among the good examples of the three-day period are the tightly written stories on the Lindner ethics controversy. The updates were so well crafted that even in brief form they could explain the situation to our readers." (Aaron Brown, Daily Tribune of Hibbing).

MN-Donation-Investigation (March 13) "I enjoyed the lead and thought it was a good way to approach a story that will be getting old by the time our readers pick up our paper at 5 p.m." (Dylan Belden, Albert Lea Tribune)

XGR-Academic Standards (March ) "Yecke photo made for good package on academic standards" (Jerry Madson, Bemidji Pioneer)

The bureau rates highly with members.

One of the overriding messages of the Wire Watch is that the Minnesota Associated Press is only as good as its members. Every member newspaper needs to send more stories and photos. The new "Around Minnesota" feature is a good addition, but we shouldn't rely on AP staffers to generate this themselves every day.

A quick look at the questions and answers.

1. Was today's report timely? Did AP cover breaking news fast enough, to your knowledge? 11 of 11 papers said yes.

2. Were there state stories you would have liked to have seen in the AP file of stories that day? 11 of 11 said no.

3. How do you assess the quality of writing, reporting and editing in today's report? Members reported a scattering of typos, but added that write-thrus quickly cleaned those up.

4. How useful was today's AP photo report? The smaller papers don't use the report because of space limitations. They tend to scan what's available or select a specific photo to run with a story.

St. Cloud wrote: It would be helpful to move mugs of people who are in stories. There was a sports story about Kirby Puckett and Mike Hatch. Mugs help design.

Duluth wrote: In an idea world, it would have been nice to have arts with XGR-Budget or DNR budget (or both) that really illustrated what the stories were about.

5. Did you send your news digest to AP? There's room for improvement. Some papers won't have a local digest, but might be able to fire off an e-mail listing the top story and feature of the day.

6. Did you send any story to AP? If not, why not? "Nothing of statewide interest" may have become a an excuse for saying no in the past. With the addition of "Around Minnesota," that's gone.

7. Did you send any photo to AP? If not, why not? Only a few "yeses." We need more photos.

I've reminded our photographers that some copy is grumbling under their breath that Red Wing (or somebody else) moved another feature on the wire, but it's not going to be used because there's no art.

8. Did you talk with anyone from the Minneapolis or St. Paul bureaus today? Were they helpful?

A resounding yes. Steve Karnowski, Renee Ruble and Lindsay Schiffler were among the people mentioned by name.