• by Erik Sass , September 14, 2009

Following the lead of flagship papers The Miami Herald and The Sacramento Bee, all 28 McClatchy Co.'s daily newspapers are joining the Associated Press mobile news network, according to the AP. The move reflects the growing importance of mobile distribution to news purveyors, enabling them to reach readers on the go via ubiquitous handheld devices.

Christian Hendricks, vice president of McClatchy's interactive media division, explained: "Adding all our Web sites to AP Mobile makes it easier for consumers to access our local news and helps expand overall readership in our newspapers' markets."

It also gives readers round-the-clock access to international and national news from the AP posted on McClatchy newspaper Web sites.

The mobile network also allows AP members to share their own (non-AP) content with each other. Jane Seagrave, senior vice president of global product development for the AP, boasted: "No other mobile news service combines so many original sources of credible, breaking news in a single, easy-to-navigate application."

In June, the AP hosted an upfront-like meeting with media buyers and advertisers, showcasing new AP products and content offerings, as well as star reporters in the marketable areas of entertainment and sports news.

The meeting was part of AP's push to raise online ad revenue, an increasingly important source of income that allows the news organization to be somewhat independent of its newspaper members. The AP is also putting a high priority on its licensing contracts with Google, Yahoo, Microsoft and AOL.