Ten staff journalists are expected to be out of a job as Australian Associated Press shuts its New Zealand Newswire in late April following the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games.

The NZ service was established in 2011 after the closure of the NZPA but has struggled for customers and to increase rates.

"We threw all we could at this," says AAP editor-in-chief Tony Gillies, "but in the end we have not been able to sustain the business."

Part of the challenge is that faced by media customers themselves, and Gillies says that as in the Australian market, there was continued pressure to reduce fees.

AAP will retain two journalists in the country - of the 14 it had after closing its news video team last September - to provide news for its Australian wire service and subscribers having access to the international AAP network. One of the team will return to Sydney, and The Australian has reported that AAP is in talks with the remaining 11, hoping to redeploy at least one.