When you need news, there is only one place to turn – the Associated Press. This is especially true if you are a news outlet reporting on foreign affairs. Increasingly, news outlets are relying on the Associated Press to find and report on international stories. Very few media centers even send reports to cover events overseas. They rely on news wires such as Reuters and the Associated Press, with AP holding the bulk of the responsibility.

What is the Associated Press?
The Associated Press is the largest and oldest news organization in the world. Founded in 1846, the Associated Press is a cooperative run by an elected board of directors. Founded in the United States, the Associated Press today has more than 240 international bureaus. The Associated Press seeks out and provides balanced and timely news reports, articles, video and photographs. On any given day, more than half of the world’s population reads, see, or hears material originating from the Associated Press.

What does the Associated Press do?
The majority of the Associated Press employees are journalists. A full 75% of all those associated with AP go out into the world to find, compile and report the news in one form or another. The Associated Press includes photo and video journalists, print journalists, television journalists and radio commentators. All of these seek out breaking news to share in four languages in 121 countries.

The Associated Press is known for balanced and fair reporting. There have been few scandals over the years pertaining to sources or retractions, such as the current discussion regarding the police captain, Jamil Hussein, but in the world of fast-moving media, this is to be expected.

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The Better Business Bureau in your area is just one of thousands throughout the country. The Council of Better Business Bureaus provides many excellent services to small businesses, and compliance with the Better Business Bureau (BBB) is desirable and respected among consumers. The Bureaus operate in the United States and Canada and offer a voluntary standard of operating guidelines and behavior to companies in any field of service. To use the BBBs, consider the following aspects and services offered:

• BBB Reports on Companies
The Better Business Bureau has reports available on thousands of companies both in your area and nationwide. If you are considering working with another company or making a large purchase or service arrangement, the BBB can offer you information on the past dealing of the company in question. This is an excellent way to learn if a company has been ethical in their past dealings when making your decision.

By the same token, you can make reports to the BBB about other companies. While this is not the same as litigation, reporting unethical behavior to the BBB is enough to force some companies to behave more appropriately. Compliance with the BBB is not mandatory, however, so many of the most unethical companies are undisturbed by reports. If you were to research those companies, however, you will easily discover their misdeeds and proceed to take your business elsewhere. (more…)