AP Ending Its "asap" Service in October

AP Ending Its "asap" Service in October: "NEW YORK The Associated Press will be ending its highly-touted 'asap' service in October, E&P has learned. Staffers were notified this morning about its October 31 demise as a stand alone. It's not known if any layoffs will come. About 200 newspapers subscribed to the service. It was launched in 2005 as a response to the growth of blogs and so-called youth tabs, and had 24 staff members. It offers a variety of packages and reports (including a lot of video and photo galleries) targeting a younger and/or quirkier audience than the standard AP report. Elements of the service will be incorporated into the regular AP report. ASAP Editor Ted Anthony declined to say why the product was being disbanded, but said part of the reason was an effort to take the approach and weave it more within other AP services."