Associated Press Launches Asap Website

Posted on April 16, 2007

The Associated Press has launched a new service called Asap that includes video content and blogs. AP's Asap is a new website containing news, search, tabbed categories and scrolling AP headlines. There is a biweekly video feature on religion and spirituality called Everything Scared. There is also a gaming video feature called Up Down Left Right. The service also includes one blog hosted with Typepad called The Slug. The Slug is a pop culture blog. Editor & Publisher says another blog will be launching on Tuesday called Far and Wide that will contain about 25 posts a day.

"Far and Wide" is a fully interactive blog of the global AP report, handpicked by the asap staff, that customers can embed in their sites. Readers will be able respond to posts about breaking news at the AP and how it's covered. Text, audio, video and photos are elements of this innovative model, which will offer as many as 25 posts a day, with blog entries broken out by topic such as national, entertainment, lifestyles, technology and sports. In addition, mini-interviews with AP staffers in the middle of the news will offer immediate insight into the world's top events. It's breaking news, it's behind-the-scenes and it's interactive. A triple-play for online news junkies.

They may be late to the party but Asap and the videos and blogs in it are a big improvement over the AP's disastrous and weird first attempt at a blog.