From the time Thompson took control until shortly after the Second World War, the "News-Miner" lacked a dedicated connection to the Associated Press. In the early years of the Thompson administration, he had a dedicated correspondent in Seattle whose job was to read the early editions of the Seattle newspapers, then hurry to the telegraph office and summarize what he had read to Thompson on the other end of the telegraph cable. This system later was replaced by a dedicated contract with the Alaska Communications System, but that contract limited the "News-Miner" to no more than 9,000 words per day of messages.