The Associated Press continues its online drive with the Sept. 19 debut of asap, described by the news co-op as “one of the most ambitious projects ever undertaken by the AP to provide content targeted to a specific demographic group.” Depsite the name, it took nearly two years to move the project from idea to reality; the board of directors gave it a nod at the April annual meeting.
The AP also describes it as “premium content for a premium audience delivered as a premium service” and “a new product designed for use with every news format, including the Internet, wireless, newspapers and niche publications.”
The goal: draw in the 18-34 audience currently viewed by most newspapers as the lost generation. Ted Anthony—the press release actually describes him as “30-something” and his team as “mostly 20-something and 30-something journalists”— says the effort will take full advantage of the AP’s global resources “to bring the most interesting stories in the world to people in entirely new ways.”
First response from here: the proof will be in the pudding, yada yada, runs the risk of being next-gen NIE (newspapers in education). We’ll know more when it’s actually available for viewing. Until then, one word of caution—the team’s age doesn’t matter nearly as much as the results they deliver.