The breakdown of its circa $15 million partnership with Nine and News Corp, alongside competition from digital behemoths Facebook and Google and falling client numbers over the past decade, has made AAP's business model untenable. About 600 employees will lose their jobs including 100 contracted photographers, 200 journalists and 300 working in sports results, human resources, finance and administration. "This is an unfortunate reality of media disruption. We’re not the first media company to be shut down and we won’t be the last," Mr Davidson said. "The media has been torn apart through the digital age." 'This is an unfortunate reality of media disruption. We’re not the first media company to be shut down and we won’t be the last.' AAP chief executive Bruce Davidson Mr Davidson called on the government to ensure digital giants Google and Facebook pay for the content they use after putting the blame squarely on those who used the internet to circumvent paywalls, adding "things will change and disappear" if customers were not willing to pay. "We all loved Holden cars, but guess what? No one was buying them. We may lament that now they’re gone but we were actually responsible for that happening," he said, noting it had been a "very difficult decision" to shut AAP.

"The tragedy in terms of AAP’s demise is that we are a very non-agenda based news organisation. We simply cover the facts. That’s probably the biggest piece of the puzzle that will disappear." The sub-editing arm of the business, Pagemasters, is expected to close in August and journalism tools Medianet and Mediaverse, as well as AAP's Facebook fact-checking service, will be sold to a third party. Between 20 and 30 journalists are expected to be re-deployed to News Corp and Nine. Campbell Reid (right) and Emma Cowdroy walk away after the closure announcement at AAP head office in Sydney. Credit:AAP AAP editor in chief Tony Gillies, who has worked at the newswire for 16 years, said the company had been "his life". "I've absolutely loved it. But for now, hand on heart, my priority is with my staff and helping our shareholders transition out of AAP."

AAP chairman Campbell Reid told staff: "The loss of AAP's voice in the Australian conversation bothers me deeply. The fact that too many companies have chosen not to pay to publish that voice is the root of the problem." The discussions about AAP's future had been under way for six months and doubts around its future were first revealed by The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald this week. Mr Davidson said he had regretted staff had found out about the massive job losses from news reports. "It was unfortunate the story did break before I got to tell them," he said. Digital publishers, including the Guardian and Daily Mail, rely on AAP for much of their breaking news content and it is understood they were not informed of the changes ahead of time.

The union representing the media industry, the Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance, said the closure of the newswire service was a "gross abandonment of responsibility by its shareholders – Australia’s major media outlets". "Beancounters at the top of media organisations might think they can soldier on without AAP, but the reality is it will leave a huge hole in news coverage. Filling those holes will fall to already overburdened newsroom journalists. Or coverage will simply cease to occur," MEAA federal president Marcus Strom said. "To lose AAP is to deny Australians across the nation of essential news and information." Praise flew in for AAP's reporters, photographers, videographers and production staff from the company's executives, but also current and former politicians and journalists around the country. The hashtag #SaveAAP saturated Twitter.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said it was a "sad day" and AAP had a proud history. "They have a wonderful history in this place and when you have such an important institution such as AAP coming to an end not just here ... that is a matter of real concern," he said. Loading Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese said the closure was a "tragedy for our democracy" and would leave a "massive void", and he thanked the newswire for decades of coverage that spanned the country. "The Australian public will be less informed as a result of the decision today, which I think is a great tragedy," he said. Former prime ministers Kevin Rudd and Malcolm Turnbull took to Twitter to show their support for the service. "Most Australians don't realise that AAP Newswire's balanced coverage remains one of the few forces that checks Murdoch's attempts to indoctrinate Australians into his Fox-style alternate reality," Mr Rudd said on Twitter.