AP close to launch

It was almost a year ago that I wrote that:

When the AP’s Tom Curley talks these days, it pays to listen, because if the AP can pull off what he hopes, it’s not going to be a question of if we do – or teach – multimedia journalism. It’s going to be how and when.

According to the latest dispatch from Curley's missionary work to press association meetings around the country, that time is almost here.

The Daily Press of Newport News, Va., reports on Curley's talk this past Friday to the Virginina Press Association. Curley told the group that this summer AP will be ready to launch a Web-based system of presenting stories and all their multimedia components -- much different than the line-by-line display of wire stories most editors now see on their computer screens.

Curley's calling it "newsbase." According to the Daily Press:

Instead of offering news in its traditional list format, he said, the nonprofit cooperative would start searchable Web-based databases that would tell subscribers whether stories are available, along with video, audio, graphics and photos.

The "newsbase" system is designed to make news easier to search, track and use in broadcast, print and online formats, Curley said. Icons will appear on Web pages showing what media forms are available for the AP's stories.

Curley notes the usual newsroom cultural problems, in this case that photo editors thought news editors would get too much control over the selection of photos.

A year ago, I wrote: The AP is the behind-the-scenes, 800-pound gorilla when it comes to forcing the news industry into change.

Here's Curley's take on it a year later via the Daily Press:

Newspapers will have to take advantage of it, Curley said.

"We will set these things up," he said. "And you brand it. You run with it."

'Nuff said?