---
category: Private Organization
location: New York City
start: 1846
summary: The Associated Press was the news service whose reporters Robert Parry and
  Brian Barger broke early stories on Contra drug trafficking that were suppressed
  by editors.
tags:
- organization
- media
- contra-war
---

The Associated Press (AP) was the news service whose reporters [Robert Parry](/people/robert-parry/) and Brian Barger broke early stories on [Contra](/organizations/contras/) drug trafficking in the 1980s. Their groundbreaking reporting was suppressed by editors who sat on the story for weeks, heavily edited it, and ultimately spiked it.[^1]

### Suppressed Reporting

Robert Parry, one of the AP reporters who wrote the story on Contra drug connections, said his editors sat on the piece for weeks and edited it heavily, only to spike it at the last minute. The suppression of the AP's Contra-drug story in the 1980s foreshadowed the media establishment's treatment of [Gary Webb](/people/gary-webb/)'s [Dark Alliance](/events/dark-alliance/) series a decade later. The AP's failure to publish its own reporters' findings allowed the government to maintain its denial of Contra-connected drug trafficking for years.[^2]

[^1]: Webb, Gary. *Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion.* Seven Stories Press, 1998. Ch. 27.
[^2]: Webb, Gary. *Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion.* Seven Stories Press, 1998. Ch. 27.