Associated Press Executive Editor Julie Pace defended the news organization’s plan to build an India-based production hub, acknowledging the move will likely lead to additional layoffs.
“Many of you have asked for more details on the work we’re doing to strengthen our organization so we can sustain our mission to deliver fact-based, nonpartisan news that informs the world,” Pace wrote in a memo to staff obtained by the New York Times’ Ben Mullin. “Visuals are incredibly important to AP and its future. To that end, we are planning to develop a centralized global hub in India to increase the size of our production staff to scale both our video and photo capabilities while improving speed a quality.”
Additionally, Pace shared that the company was looking to explore “production changes in other global locations.”
Per Pace, this new initiative is set to impact the current U.S.-based video and photo production staff.
On why they’ve chosen to expand operations in India, Pace noted that the country has “a vibrant, digital-first media industry.”
“We have done some hiring in production earlier this year to test the market, and we’ve long had success hiring for other teams there,” Pace added. “Other news organizations have been building their presence in India in recents years as well.”
For those still skeptical of the decision, Pace defended that their role as “a fully independent global news organization” meant they had to be “intentional about where and how we invest.”
“We do not have the backing of a large corporate parent or outside ownership,” Pace said. “And while that is a great thing for our journalism, our ability to sustain world-class reporting depends on adapting to changes in the industry, thinking strategically about where to allocate our resources and investing in the areas where we can grow and best serve customers.”
Pace emphasized that AP’s mission statement remained the same: “To inform the world with factual, independent and nonpartisan journalism.”
Before signing off her note, she thanked the newsroom for their “work,” “resilience” and “commitment to AP journalism.”
“We have asked you to navigate a lot of change amid an intense and unrelenting news cycle, and around the world you have distinguished the AP report with speed, authority, ambition, resilience and courage,” she concluded. “We will keep you updated as we move forward in this process.”
Pace’s statement came more than a month after the AP laid off 20 U.S.-based journalists as part of a restructuring aimed at shifting the organization from print to visual news.
At the time, the AP News Guild slammed the job cuts, stating it was indicative of “just how directionless AP leadership has become.” In the same message, the guild also called out leadership for outsourcing work to India.
“Layoffs included U.S. news, photographers, investigations, business and sports across 12 states,” the union’s May statement read. “Meanwhile, AP has found plenty of resources to outsource video production jobs to India, away from video staff in the U.S. and elsewhere.”
Earlier in 2026, the legacy news organization proposed its intent to downsize and offered buyouts to more than 120 journalists working the United States. Around 40 staffers accepted the buyouts, the AP News and its guild shared at the time.