AP's Texas Bureau Chief Dale Leach has an effective technique to demonstrate the ability of AP Exchange to help find unique, local content. When Leach visits a newsroom, he'll fire up Exchange and immediately create a search for the name of a local community. It's a bit of a wildcard that comes up, but the results often provide terrific ideas for local features. "Often the name of a local, amateur athelete will pop up in a sports agate file," says Leach. "And in many of those cases, the editor I'm talking to hasn't heard of this kid. But there's a great local story to be written. The kid's mom will be thrilled and the neighbours and family will all buy copies."
In addition to stories about local athletes, town names crop up in a wide range of other AP articles. Frequently, because the name of the town is not in the slug or lead, these mentions go unseen by the newsroom not using AP Exchange. Give it a shot. See what comes up.