-By Warner Todd Huston
The AP “wants your questions.” No, really… I’m serious. With their continued roll out of “AP 2.0” (as I reported on here) the Associated Press wants you to email them with all those nagging questions you have about the news and current events. If you see or read a story from the AP and you are curious about something, drop ’em a line.
Do you read about world events online and wish you could click on a Tell Me More button? Do you watch newscasts, read blogs and download news podcasts, only to end up frustrated by a question that’s left ringing in your head?
Here’s your chance to get some answers from the people who really know the news: journalists at the world’s largest newsgathering organization.
The AP is not playin’, man. They are serious that these “journalists” are the ones who “really know the news.” Of course, the main reason they “really know the news” is because they make it up themselves! So, they outta know. Ya know?
OK, you wise guys, out there. If you can stop laughing I will continue this little report.
In any case, the AP wants to enrich your AP experience. No more will they just be relegating themselves to lying in one sitting. Now you can come back several times for spin and fiction over and over. It’s a veritable bacchanalia of “answers” we’ve got going here.
Introducing “Ask AP,” a Q&A column where The Associated Press answers your questions about the news — anything from “What’s a subprime mortgage?” to “What ever happened to Linda Tripp?” to “How does a reporter prepare to be embedded with the military in Iraq?”
Heck, I don’t know about you but I feel more informed already.
And here is the capper…
AP editors will choose some of the questions sent in by readers like you and get answers from AP reporters and editors — the people who spend their days covering the very issues you’re curious about.
How many conservative questions do ya think they’ll indulge? What is “goose egg”? What is “zippo”? What is “nadda”?
So send your questions to newsquestions@ap.org, with “Ask AP” in the subject line. Then keep an eye out for installments of the new Q&A column, where you’ll finally get some answers.
My first question will be:
Dear AP,
Why do you continuously print ,without making the slightest effort to confirm any of the facts contained, of stories sold to you by Iraqi “stringers” who have an agenda to harm U.S. Interests?
Thanks,
Warner Todd Huston
NewsBusters.org
So, do ya think they will so helpfully answer my little query?
Yeah. I didn’t think so, either.
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Warner Todd Huston is a Chicago based freelance writer, has been writing opinion editorials and social criticism since early 2001 and is featured on many websites such as newsbusters.org, townhall.com, New Media Journal, Men’s News Daily and the New Media Alliance among many, many others. Additionally, he has been a frequent guest on talk-radio programs to discuss his opinion editorials and current events. He has also written for several history magazines and appears in the new book “Americans on Politics, Policy and Pop Culture” which can be purchased on amazon.com. He is also the owner and operator of publiusforum.com. Feel free to contact him with any comments or questions : EMAIL Warner Todd Huston