08/29/06

AP announces 2 finalists for its 2006 Chairman's Prize

NEW YORK -- Two finalists were announced Aug. 29 for The Chairman's Prize, an Associated Press staff award program designed to stimulate creative thinking, performance breakthroughs and entrepreneurial changes that affect the AP or the news industry.

The ideas presented by the finalists are: creation of an ad-supported online video network with content designed specifically for the Web, and development of a multimedia service targeted to the under-35 generation of readers.

"These ideas show that AP is taking head-on the challenges of the digital age by launching initiatives that will help the industry spur the innovation necessary to compete successfully," AP President and CEO Tom Curley said.

The finalists were selected by a committee of AP managers.

The winner will be selected by Burl Osborne, chairman of the AP board of directors, and former chairmen Frank Batten, Frank Daniels, William Keating and Donald Newhouse. The winner will be announced in October, along with a monetary award commensurate with the winning idea, at the AP Recognition Awards dinner at the news cooperative's West 33rd Street headquarters.

This year's finalists for The Chairman's Prize, which was open to both individuals and teams nominated by their colleagues:

-- a team that created the Online Video Network, a breakthrough service for AP and the industry, speedily brought to market, based on a free, ad-supported business model and featuring unique content with video packages specifically designed for the Web;

-- a team that produced asap, a creative multimedia service to help the AP membership reach the elusive 18-34 demographic group of readers.

Founded in 1846, The Associated Press is the world's oldest and largest newsgathering organization, providing content to more than 15,000 news outlets with a daily reach of 1 billion people around the world. Its multimedia services are distributed by satellite and the Internet to more than 120 nations.
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On the Net

The Associated Press
http://www.ap.org/

AP Online Video Network
http://www.ap.org/ovn/

asap
http://www.ap.org/asap/index.html


Contact: Jack Stokes, AP Corporate Communications, 212.621.1720