The 24 staffers were notified Friday that the service would no longer stand alone, and it is not known whether there will be any layoffs. Although asap Editor Ted Anthony declined to tell Editor and Publisher why the service is being disbanded, he did say part of the reason is to take asap's multimedia approach and weave it within other AP services, E&P stated in an article.

Asap has been a “terrific journalism success,” Kathleen Carroll, executive editor of the news cooperative told AP staff in an internal memo Friday. “Economic success, however, has proved more elusive,” she wrote. Carroll has declined to comment on how much the AP invested in the unit, or how much losses were.

AP spokesman Paul Colford said in an AP article that the service had about 200 newspaper subscribers.