MAKE: Blog: Teletype - a visit to the AP

Teletype - a visit to the AP

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Dale (MAKE's publisher) took a trip to the AP, nice history lesson with the teletype... -

On a visit this week to the Associated Press, I had the opportunity to meet Valerie Komor, the archivist for the AP, and explore the fascinating history of the AP. The AP was founded in 1846 when five NY newspapers decided to share the costs of a rowboat used to retrieve the news of Europe from incoming ocean liners. Thus, the Harbor News Service was formed. By pooling resources, the newspapers assured reliable access to the news and avoided some of the problems of intercepting it -- the many press boats were crashing into each other. It was the first step towards building a news organization that today gathers news and distributes it on behalf of its subscribers. The AP, established as a cooperative and owned by newspapers, grew and developed into a national service because it was able to share local and regional news nationwide. It was the technology of the telegraph and the teletype that made this possible.

Teletype - a visit to the AP - Link.

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Comments

Oldest comments listed first.

Posted by: yongoro on February 8, 2008 at 11:50 AM

My father worked for Western Union as a teletype repairman. We had a machine in our basement. It had a phone cradle and I would make it type by whistling in the receiver.

Posted by: ocie on February 10, 2008 at 12:24 PM

I had one growing up too, but it never worked. I could move some of the parts by hand, though. Great fun.

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