Identifying Publishable Content

Video Tutorial

Identifying Publishable Content (02:26)

What is non-publishable content?

Some content items may not be distributed to news consumers, either not immediately or not at all:

• Items that are for editorial information only (for example, Advisories and Daybooks) are not intended for publication at any time.

• Embargoed (Hold-For-Release) content may not be published to consumers until the specified release date-time has occurred (when the embargo is lifted).

• Canceled (the same as Kill) and withheld content items must not be distributed, and all previously delivered versions of these items must be recalled.

How can I identify publishable content in the Search, Feed and Item Metadata responses?

1. Check the signals field:

   • A value of newscontent in the signals field indicates that you may publish the content item either presently or sometime in the future (if an item is embargoed). Proceed to step 2 below.

   • If the newscontent value is not present in the signals field, the content item may NOT be published to news consumers at any time. For example, Advisories and Daybooks are for editorial use only and do NOT include the newscontent value in the signals field.

2. If a content item is identified as publishable (newscontent is present in the signals field), check the pubstatus field. Possible values are:

   • Usable. This content item may be distributed to news consumers in publishing forms that do not violate your agreement with the AP and copyright information contained in the content item and its metadata. Proceed to step 4 below.

   • Embargoed. Do not distribute the content item at this time. Proceed to step 3 below.

   • Withheld. Do not distribute this content item to news consumers because it contains questionable information. Any previously distributed form of the content item must be recalled.

   • Canceled (the same as Kill). Do not distribute this content item to news consumers because it contains erroneous information. Any distributed form of the content item must be recalled.

3. If the pubstatus field contains a value of Embargoed, check the embargoed field for the date and time after which the item may be published. Do not distribute an embargoed content item to news consumers until the release date-time found in embargoed has occurred.

4. Make sure to check the editorialtypes field for any special processing instructions, especially Kills for pictures. For more information, see Picture Notification Banners.

Where can I find search request examples?

For search request examples, see:

• How to exclude items that are for editorial information only (for example, Advisories and Daybooks) from search results?

• How to exclude embargoed content from search results?