Associated Press extends DP benefits

The Associated Press and the News Media Guild reached tentative agreement Monday on a new three-year labor contract, which includes domestic-partner benefits, covering about 1,700 editorial employees of the news service. Union negotiators said they would recommend approval of the contract. The National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association congratulated the Associated Press and its employees on the decision to offer DP benefits. "By providing its gay and lesbian employees domestic-partner benefits, the Associated Press today joins many of its member news organizations by putting a commitment to fairness into practice," said NLGJA president Steven Petrow. "Earlier this year we launched a new initiative to bring DP benefits to the last large media holdouts: AP, NBC, and MediaNews Group. With AP's decision, NLGJA will now focus more intently on the last two major news organizations."