AP Classification Metadata

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AP News Taxonomy

AP News Taxonomy is a classification system for English-language news content that includes standardized subjects, geographic locations, people, organizations and publicly traded companies. This search- and SEO-friendly taxonomy is designed to support digital news products. Each tag includes a relevance score that can be used to filter tags or sort stories in your systems. Only the most salient and relevant tags are returned to make it easier for you to discover AP content and to use it in your own production systems.

AP Classification system automatically enriches news content with all the relevant metadata tags from the News Taxonomy.

• Accurate and relevant metadata tags. AP Classification of news content goes well beyond mere text extraction; it uses a hybrid approach to concept and entity tagging, leveraging a deep knowledge graph for better domain targeting, as well as human-created context-aware semantic rules that understand the content and identify the most pertinent entities and topics. Only the tags that truly describe the content are returned, along with their relevance scores. The AP Classification system not only recognizes and returns specific entities that it finds in the content, but also uses human-created semantic rules to identify topics that may not be explicitly mentioned in the text at all. For example, a story about a particular country music star can trigger the "Country music" subject, even if the word "music" does not appear in the story.

• Frequent, timely metadata updates. AP metadata is continuously updated to capture the latest news and the biggest newsmakers. Whether it’s this week’s IPOs or the new crop of college athletes, AP's taxonomy developers are always working to keep the vocabularies current and relevant.

AP Subject

AP Subject is a set of topics geared toward news coverage, ranging from broad categories (for example, "Education") to specific concepts (for example, "School curricula"), including relevant, timely topics, such as "Activism," "Diversity, Equity and inclusion" and "Wellness." Only subjects that directly match the content are returned; broader topics are not returned unless they also match the content directly.

AP Subject also includes many named events; for example, "Academy Awards" and "Tour de France," as well as breaking news events as they happen. Events that drop out of the news cycle and seem unlikely to return are reviewed and deprecated on a rolling basis.

 

Value	ID (GUID)
Business	c8e409f8858510048872ff2260dd383e
Climate and environment	8783d248894710048286ba0a2b2ca13e
Education	1af99ec3cb954ff4b349b32d60d0376d
Entertainment	16cb0ba3e6d24d97ace39f5a1924669a
General news	f25af2d07e4e100484f5df092526b43e
U.S. news	a4677d70863b4012b846a1b00f5079f5
World news	bb2d2c5f441a452cb24bb511a2ab5eea
Washington news	abfca78268874726966cdad8c35c4ae3
Health	cc7a76087e4e10048482df092526b43e
Lifestyle	3e37e4b87df7100483d5df092526b43e
Media	c188eb1088be10048dceb097165a0203
Obituaries	30c418e4b7644a9eb54409baf55036d1
Oddities	44811870882f10048079ae2ac3a6923e
Politics	86aad5207dac100488ecba7fa5283c3e
Race and ethnicity	ec28dcdfc4ca4ac9918d3b61427e65c3
Religion	026a1118e94443a2aacc08a2e70cc77b
Science	4bf76cb87df7100483dbdf092526b43e
Sports	54df6c687df7100483dedf092526b43e
Technology	455ef2b87df7100483d8df092526b43e

For more information, see a complete list of AP Subject terms.

AP Geography

AP Geography contains geographic place names, such as cities, U.S. states, Canadian provinces, Australian states and territories, countries, continents, points of interest and natural features; for example, lakes and mountain ranges. World regions (for example, "Eastern Europe," "Greater China," "West Africa") are not included.

For more information, see a complete list of AP Geography terms.

Available properties include:

• Location type (generic type label; for example, "City," "Country," "Province")

• Latitude and Longitude (centroid coordinates)

Location Type

Value	Code
Administrative region	338c908297b44f1fb670bd656b68e18e
Autonomous community	589efdc24aac4de1a319d777f5f89b8c
Autonomous region	f512b4dd78ba4f4ba24a3c54c3c59ef6
Bay	a776288fde444763be0349e1fbd5c77c
Borough	30f6407ef71943d08409c3addcff1179
Canal	169ef878d9144d6390f4e855549beac5
City	9d26a20b35f0484a891740f8189d4c7b
Constituent country	d83e15f769714aab9d49a03eab919128
Continent	976d112cd5c3497ea180aeecab922c6b
Disputed territory	ccaa3b23a3964e57af945798a8a551ee
Former nation	953a9525c7e7457cb64a136b05565b30
Gulf	05afd5c8de0741eea5c2506a6d886d6b
Island	2ef4b4210f64440eaaa4ff3dcaf37d35
Island area	0a9b49a863314cbd86f9f6a1aaec8c4c
Island group	d0cb76c4b1af4a71836227c861efab3e
Lake	23137ef0d0904c9f97f0ef95ab57e378
Nation	01f56e0e654841eca2e69bf2cbcc0526
Ocean	0bd52df049f3428ba5cf170e2037d13d
Point of Interest	682e208076874111911b4c0525017958
Province	84828d1850104a78bb35f5726b8c49aa
Region	2b2af0f2d21d45c28e9e5b43a6159057
Republic	f221cb16ced7445ba082bc6e35aa489b
River	7fa74af97f7e40bf99a5e971e9a50461
Sea	61bb9878082348469a42017d7ec5533b
State	0ae5eb8e00e04295a4fc209c94bfe6ef
Strait	5806ed5221074662a381a3ac95e361a6
Territory	b7a0766613394ffda1709e3e433f2de2
World region	424cdfcd69d64fa6869055f7ebf10be4

AP Person

AP Person covers celebrities, artists, designers, authors, business leaders, political figures, sports figures, royalty, and other newsmakers known at the global or US national level. Coverage is especially broad for US newsmakers in politics, entertainment and sports, including complete rosters for major professional sports teams, NCAA football and basketball athletes and coaches on the rosters of Power Five Conference and the Big East teams, all US officeholders at the federal and gubernatorial levels, and all candidates for those offices.

 

Note
Any person deceased for over two years and deemed not currently newsworthy is deprecated.

Sports Figures

Notes
Any athlete or coach inactive for over two years is deprecated. If a sports figure becomes active again or is newsworthy for any other reason (for example, such as in the case of O.J. Simpson), they will be reactivated by the AP.

 

The AP applies tags for the following:

• All US pro athletes and coaches on the rosters of the NFL, MLB, NHL, NBA, WNBA and MLS teams.

• All NCAA football and basketball athletes and coaches on the rosters of the Power Five and Group of Five Conferences, the basketball athletes and coaches on the rosters of the Big East, Atlantic 10 and West Coast Conference, and a short list of priority players and coaches determined by AP’s sports coverage.

• A priority list of about 100 non-US pro soccer players and coaches determined by AP’s sports coverage.

• Select F1, NASCAR and IndyCar drivers based on AP's sports coverage.

• Select golfers, tennis players, cyclists and other professional athletes based on AP's sports coverage.

The AP does not apply tags for complete Olympic rosters for all national teams in favor of a list of priority athletes determined by AP’s sports coverage.

About Person Properties

Available properties include:

• Person type (main category for each named individual).

• Team (for team athletes and coaches only). The team(s) on which an athlete plays. The team values and codes are available as part of the list of AP Organization terms.

• Associated event (only for archive content and only for athletes and coaches participating in Olympic games or FIFA World Cup). Represents a relationship between a person and a current event, typically, the person's participation in or some significant contribution to the event; for example, a player's participation in 2018 FIFA World Cup. For more information, see Associated Event Name and Code Examples.

Person Type

AP Person main categories for named individuals include:

 

Value	Description
ARCHITECT	People who designed famous buildings
ARTIST	Painters, sculptors and others in fine arts
AUTHOR	Novelists, poets and other composers of literary work
BUSINESS_LEADER	Company executives and other newsmakers in the business world
ENTERTAINMENT_FIGURE	Famous performers, models, directors and media personalities
MOVIE_ACTOR	Popular film actors
CELEBRITY_CHEF	People who are known for their cooking and typically have a restaurant and/or a TV show
COMEDIAN	Famous stand-up comics
DANCER	Professional dancers known for performing on TV shows, in movies or ballets
DIRECTOR	Filmmakers
MISC_ENTERTAINER	Famous people in arts or entertainment who do not fit into another category, such as magicians or film producers
FASHION_DESIGNER	Haute Couture and other well-known designers of clothing, footwear and accessories
TV_PERSONALITY	People known mainly for non-acting, non-journalistic roles on a television program; for example, talk show hosts, reality contestants and contest judges
MODEL	Supermodels and other fashion models making the news
MUSICIAN	Popular performers in the music industry, such as singers and instrument players
GOVERNMENT_FIGURE	People in unelected leadership roles in government, such as cabinet members, heads of government agencies, judges, law enforcement officials, military officers and diplomats
JOURNALIST	People who write for newspapers, magazines or news websites or prepare news to be broadcast
NEWSMAKER	Newsmaking people who do not fit into other categories, such as scientists, lawyers, religious leaders, activists, academics, military personnel, criminals, crime victims and people who make news because of their relationship to a famous person
PERSON	Person extractions (people names extracted from the content) who are typically previously unknown newsmakers in breaking news.
POLITICIAN	People in policy-making or decision-making roles in the government of a geopolitical entity, such as senators, congress people, governors and presidents
ROYALTY	People of royal blood or status
SPORTS_FIGURE	Athletes participating in professional or collegiate sports, or in major amateur events; sports managers, coaches and administrators
PROFESSIONAL_ATHLETE	Athletes participating in professional sports
COACH	Coaches in professional or collegiate sports
COLLEGE_ATHLETE	Athletes participating in collegiate sports
SPORTS_MANAGEMENT	Owners of professional sports teams, NCAA athletic directors and other sports officials in the news

 

Associated Event Name and Code Examples (for Archive Content Only)

Event Name	ID
2018 Pyeongchang Olympic Games	47a2f6181cff4d379227f49015d1a187
2018 FIFA World Cup	954e13c1052a43e290b13b4a099e8412
2020 Tokyo Olympic Games	3ee3daef5f474988b2c1332a1096165f
2022 Beijing Olympic Games	d365e2d8988f4a8ba3a35185c2004a00
2022 FIFA World Cup	6a192cba94004872804b22f4106a7431

For more information about the AssociatedEvent property, see AP Winter and Summer Olympics Metadata.

AP Person Extractions

In addition to existing known AP Person tags with unique identifiers (AP GUIDs) from the AP Person Taxonomy, AP Classification Person tags also include AP person extractions (people names extracted from the content). As breaking news stories develop, person extractions allow for tagging previously unknown newsmakers starting from the first story where they appear. AP Person extractions have a Type of PERSON and relevance scores, but no AP GUIDs or other associations that come with the existing AP Person Taxonomy tags.

AP Organization

AP Organization includes organizations and institutions from a wide variety of sectors: government organizations, non-profits, sports teams, colleges and universities, political and ideological groups, cultural institutions and more.

• US pro sports. The AP applies tags for organization terms, including leagues, conferences, divisions and teams, only for NFL, MLB, NHL, NBA, WNBA and MLS.

• Olympic teams. AP’s terms for every country's team in the form "Italy Olympic team" are not included.

• Non-US soccer.

  • The AP applies sports team and league terms only for English Premier League, Bundesliga, Serie A, Ligue 1 and La Liga. Relegated teams are not included.

  • National soccer team terms, in the form "Qatar National Soccer Team," apply only to content about teams that have qualified for the upcoming FIFA World Cup and FIFA Women’s World Cup.

• NCAA football and men's basketball:

  • The AP applies tags for organization terms for teams of schools that compete in the Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), plus teams in the Big East, Atlantic 10 and West Coast Conference.

  • For each school, there is only one term for NCAA men's basketball and football teams; for example, "Tennessee Volunteers" rather than separate terms for "Tennessee Volunteers men's basketball" and "Tennessee Volunteers football." This term applies to athletes representing the school in all varsity-level sports.

• US state governments. The AP applies tags for terms for each state government in the form "Nevada state government." Individual departments (for example, "Nevada State Legislature") are not included.

• Military terms. AP tags US military branches, but not subordinate units. National military terms (for example, "Australian armed forces”) are not included.

For more information, see a complete list of AP Organization terms.

AP Company

AP Company covers all companies trading on NYSE, NASDAQ, Toronto Stock Exchange, Tokyo Stock Exchange and XETRA - Frankfurt (in bold in the list of Stock Exchange Codes). Also included are newsworthy companies trading on other exchanges and select private companies. For all publicly traded companies covered in AP Company, AP Media API delivers the primary instrument and industry with the tag. The primary instrument consists of a stock exchange abbreviation and ticker symbol.

Available properties include:

• Ticker. Ticker symbol for a security.

• Exchange. Code for the stock exchange the security is traded on.

• Instrument. Combination of the exchange and ticker, separated by a colon.

• Industries. One or more industries related to the company. The AP Industry values and codes are available as part of the list of AP Subject terms.

Stock Exchange Codes

Code	Stock Exchange
NYS	New York Stock Exchange
NAS	NASDAQ
ETR	XETRA - Frankfurt
TSE	Toronto Stock Exchange
TKS	Tokyo Stock Exchange
AMS	Euronext Amsterdam
ASE	NYSE American
ASX	Australia Stock Exchange
BOG	Colombia Stock Exchange
BRU	Euronext Brussels
CNQ	Canadian National Stock Exchange
CSE	NASDAQ OMX Copenhagen
DUB	Euronext Dublin
HEL	NASDAQ OMX Helsinki
KLS	Malaysia Stock Exchange
LIM	Lima Stock Exchange
LON	London Stock Exchange
MCE	Spanish Stock Exchange
MIL	Milan Stock Exchange
OME	NASDAQ OMX Stockholm
OSL	Oslo Exchange
PAR	Euronext Paris
SWX	SIX Swiss Exchange
TAE	Tel Aviv Stock Exchange
TSX	TSX Venture Exchange
WBO	Vienna Stock Exchange

AP Event

Names of planned events; for example:

• Sports events, such as NFL football games.

• Developing news events, such as The Latest, AP's special editorial representation of developing news stories. For more information, see The Latest - Developing Stories.

Additional Classification Metadata

Profile (Item Content Type)

The logical editorial type of the content item, currently used for text, audio and video. Provides a processing hint to applications that allows them to quickly determine the content type for inclusion or exclusion in product groups or automated processes.

Text

• Advisory. Scheduled or ad-hoc messages not for publication. Used for scheduled digests and coverage advisories, as well as package advisories and coverage plans tied to specific planned or breaking news events.

• Agate. Statistical data generally, although not exclusively, used for sports, financial markets and economic data.

• Analysis. Stories specifically headlined "AP News Analysis" with rules already established by News.

• Column. A regular feature written by the same person or a substitute about a specific subject or topic, with or without an opinion included.

• Daybook. A list of upcoming events that the AP may not necessarily be covering. Not for publication.

• Feature. Stories that are NOT focused on a breaking news angle, but are a feature, workup or trend story. It can include stories that have an incidental spot angle, but whose overall focus is big-picture. Also used for a biography of a person or a company, or a feature story focused on one person, as well as for archival text, such as the AP Was There series.

• ExtendedHeadlinePackage. Long headlines with links to full text of the top stories, as chosen by editors in a particular category.

• Game Story. Sports stories about a particular game or sporting event.

• HeadlinePackage. Short headlines with links to full text of the top stories, as chosen by editors in a particular category.

• InvestigativeEnterprise. Major investigative work or enterprise journalism. This includes AP Exclusives or other such stories that others are not reporting, even if there is no immediate spot angle.

• List. A series of short points or items such as Today in History or 10 Things to Know series.

• Lottery Results. Lottery results only (does not include stories about lotteries or lottery winners).

• NewsBrief. The first two paragraphs and links to full text and associated pictures of the top stories, as chosen by editors in a particular category.

• Obituary. A spot story about the death of a person.

• Opinion. A point of view, advice, evaluation or judgment expressed by an editor, journalist or a subject-matter expert. Used for editorial roundups.

• PhotoGallery. A text file aggregating and describing a collection of photos. Includes photo essays.

• Press Release. A text or multi-media item providing non-journalistic information to the news media from a PR, government or corporate organization.

• Preview. A story previewing an upcoming, scheduled event.

• Review. A review of a book, play, concert or other cultural event.

• Running. An item that reports on a developing story with a series of chronological updates. Used for The Latest and other ongoing events, such as sports matches or tournaments.

• Sports Scores. An item containing in-progress or end of game scoring statistical information.

• Spot Development. A report on an event or news item that happened today, or that we are learning about today that needs to be reported immediately.

• Transcript/Verbatim. Transcripts or excerpts.

• Weather Forecast. A prediction of future weather.

Audio

• Actuality. An audio recording of a newsmaker talking, also known as a sound bite.

• Music. An audio recording of music only.

• Question and Answer Session. An audio recording of an interview, typically between a producer and a correspondent or stringer, about stories they are covering.

• Raw Sound. An audio recording of nonverbal sounds, also known as "natural sound," "ambient sound" or "production sound."

• Response to a Question. An audio recording of a newsmaker responding to a question.

• Scener. An audio correspondent report recorded at the scene of a news event. The reporter does the report with the sounds of the event audible in the background.

• Voicer. An audio correspondent report in which you hear only the voice of the correspondent.

• Wrap. An audio correspondent report that incorporates the voices of both correspondent and newsmaker. Generally, the reporter introduces the newsmaker, the newsmaker says a few words, and the reporter then finishes out the story.

Video

• Moment. A short item that captures just the key imagery of an event.

• Explainer. A fact filled item that adds context around the breaking news of the day.

• Voiced. A first-person video that presents the news from the perspective of a reporter or a person in the story.

• Longerform. Investigations and special content.

Fixture

Named sets of regularly occurring content or features with a predictable focus; for example, "Financial Markets," "Film Reviews," "10 Things to Know," "Sports Briefs." For more information, see a complete list of AP Fixtures.

AP Category Code

AP category codes are applied to text, pictures, graphics and video by AP editors.

English-Language Text Stories

Code	Print/Online	Broadcast
a	Domestic general news items, including local Washington news of national interest.
c	Not applicable (N/A)	AM Prep, PM Prep, Today in History and other regular, general features.
d	Food, diet. For use primarily on standing advance features on food, recipes and the like. Frequently used with stories in the Lifestyles package.	National and international NewsWatches and News Agendas.
e	Entertainment, television and culture news and features.
f	News copy, regardless of dateline, designed primarily for use on financial pages.
g	N/A	State NewsWatches and Canadian news summaries.
h	N/A	National and international NewsMinutes.
i	International items, including stories from the United Nations, U.S. possessions, and undated roundups keyed to foreign events.
j	Lottery results only. (Stories about lotteries or lottery winners carry standard news category codes.)	State NewsMinutes and lottery results
k	Commentary. Material designed primarily for editorial and op-ed pages. (Not used on national DataStream services.)
l	Lifestyles package.
m	N/A	Farm markets and agricultural news.
n	Stories of state or regional interest under domestic datelines, including general news stories with Washington or international datelines. If a regional item is designed primarily for financial pages, the f category is used, and if it is designed primarily for the sports pages, the s category is used.
o	Weather tables and forecast fixtures. Do not use on weather stories.
p	National political copy. Generally used in months before an election.
q	Used only for result or period score of a single sports event. The code is designed to help newspaper computer systems build a list of scores or ignore individual scores and wait for transmissions that group them.
r	Race wire	Radio network billboards, advisories and scripts.
s	Sports stories, standings and results of more than one event.
t	Travel copy.	Television billboards, advisories and scripts.
v	Advisories about stories that may carry any of the category letters. This code is also used for news digests and news advisories.
w	Washington-datelined stories handled by the Washington national news desk. The category code is changed to a or i if a subsequent lead shifts to a different city.

AP Category Codes for International Text

Spanish Service

Code	Value
i	International news
e	Entertainment
f	Financial
s	Sports

Dutch Service

Code	Value
BUI	All copy

Arabic Service

Code	Value
i	International news. All copy.

AP Category Codes for Pictures and Graphics

Code	Value
A	Domestic News
F	Finance & Business
I	International News
S	Sports
V	Advisory

 

Note
AP editors may use multiple category codes separated by spaces; for example, "A S".

AP Category Codes for Video

Code	Value
a	National
e	Entertainment
f	Business
i	International
l	Lifestyles
n	Regional (AP Video-US only)
o	Strange
p	Politics
s	Sports
t	Technology

AP Supplemental Category

AP supplemental category codes are applied to pictures and graphics by AP editors.

 

Code	Value
A	Domestic
ADV	Advance
AGR	Agriculture
APN	APNewsFeatures
ARC	Archery
ATH	Track and Field
BAD	Badminton
BBA	Professional Baseball (American League)
BBC	College Baseball Men
BBH	High School Baseball
BBI	International Baseball
BBM	Minor League Baseball
BBN	Professional Baseball (National League)
BBO	Professional Baseball (Other)
BBW	Baseball Women
BBY	Youth Baseball (Little League)
BIA	Biathlon
BKC	College Basketball Men
BKH	High School Basketball
BKL	Professional Basketball Women (WNBA)
BKN	NBA Basketball
BKO	Basketball (Other)
BKW	College Basketball Women
BOB	Bobsledding
BOX	Boxing
CAN	Canoe-Kayak
CAR	Auto Racing
CER	Olympic Ceremony
CRI	Cricket
CUR	Curling
CVN	National political conventions
CYC	Bicycle Racing
DIV	Diving
ELN	Election campaigns
ENT	Entertainment
EQU	Equestrian
F	Finance
FBC	College football
FBH	High School Football
FBN	NFL Football
FBO	Football (other)
FBX	XFL Football
FEA	Feature
FEN	Fencing
FIG	Figure Skating
FILE	File photo
FRE	Freestyle Skiing
GLF	Golf
GYM	Gymnastics
H	Latin America
HAN	Team Handball
HFR	Hold for Release (embargoed for same day release)
HKC	College Hockey
HKM	Mens Hockey (Olympics)
HKN	NHL Hockey
HKO	Hockey (Other)
HKW	Womens Hockey
HKY	Field Hockey
I	International
JUD	Judo
JUM	Ski Jumping
LUG	Luge
MAP	Map or graphic
NOR	Nordic Combined (Olympics)
OBIT	Obituary
OLY	Olympics
PEN	Modern Pentathlon
PM	PM Photos
RAC	Racing (animals)
ROW	Rowing
RUG	Rugby
RUN	Track and field
S	Sports
SAI	Sailing
SHO	Skeet Shooting
SKI	Alpine skiing
SKL	Skeleton
SNO	Snowboarding
SOC	Soccer
SOF	Softball
SOU	South
SPCL	Special
SPE	Speed Skating
SPF	Special Features Package
SWM	Swimming
SYN	Synchronized Swimming
TAE	Taekwando
TEN	Tennis
TRI	Triathlon
TRM	Trampoline
TTN	Table Tennis
V	Advisory
VBB	Beach Volleyball
VBL	Volleyball
WEA	Weather
WRE	Wrestling
WST	West
WTL	Weightlifting
WTP	Water Polo
XGR	State legislatures
XXC	Cross Country Skiing
YAT	Yachting
Z	Misc

 

Note
AP editors may use multiple supplemental category codes separated by spaces; for example, "FILE ENT".

Urgency

The editorial urgency assigned to the content from 1 (the highest) to 8 (the lowest).

 

Important
urgency is not in use for video.

 

urgency	Description
1	Flash
2	Bulletin
3	Urgent
4	Routine
5	Daily
6	Release at will
7	Weekday advance
8	Weekend advance