The Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists. Many newspapers and broadcasters outside the United States are AP subscribers, paying a fee to use AP material without being contributing members of the cooperative.

As of 2005^[update], the news collected by the AP is published and republished by more than 1,700 newspapers, in addition to more than 5,001 television and radio broadcasters. The photograph library of the AP consists of over 10 million images. The Associated Press operates 243 news bureaus, and it serves at least 120 countries, with an international staff located all over the world.

Associated Press also operates The Associated Press Radio Network, which provides newscasts twice hourly for broadcast and satellite radio and television stations. The AP Radio also offers news and public affairs features, feeds of news sound bites, and long form coverage of major events.

Nancy Ann Grace (born October 23, 1959) is an American legal commentator, television host, television journalist, and former prosecutor. She frequently discusses issues from what she describes as a victims' rights standpoint, with an outspoken style that has won her both praise and condemnation. She is the host of Nancy Grace, a nightly celebrity news and current affairs show on HLN, and she was the host of Court TV's Closing Arguments. She also co-wrote the book Objection! — How High-Priced Defense Attorneys, Celebrity Defendants, and a 24/7 Media Have Hijacked Our Criminal Justice System. She was also the host of Swift Justice with Nancy Grace, a syndicated courtroom reality show on which her replacement, former Clark County District Court Judge Jackie Glass, was announced May 24, 2011, effective at the end of its first season.

Nancy Grace was born in Macon, Georgia, the youngest of three children, to Mac Grace, a freight agent for Southern Railway, and Elizabeth Grace, a payroll clerk for a manufacturing plant. Grace has two older siblings: a brother, Mac Jr., and a sister, Ginny. The members of the Grace family have been longtime members of Macon's Liberty United Methodist Church, where Nancy's mother Elizabeth plays the church organ and her father Mac was once a Sunday School teacher.