Old line news media, still mired in the legacy business of ink, newsprint and truck runs, are seeking salvation in the iPhone.

The Associated Press, a wire service cooperative owned by 1,500 daily newspapers, is investing in Verve Wireless, a startup that helps publishers create mobile web sites for smartphones.

Still, analysts voiced doubt that A.P.’s new advertising supported Mobile News Network and its participation in the $3 million A round funding of Verve would be anything more than a money pit for the foreseeable future.

The audience is “miniscule and not the least supported by advertising,” said Gordon Borrell, chief executive officer of Borrell Associates, a local advertising research firm. “They’re going to toil away to find out what the business model is.”

Earlier this month, the A.P., which did not respond to a request for comment, said 728 newspapers had joined its Mobile News Network, almost a six-fold increase since its launch in May. The network, based on Verve technology, includes an iPhone application that can be downloaded through the Apple App Store.

Mr. Borrell, however, called the A.P.’s initiative a “placeholder” until an audience for mobile content builds.

“It’s not an immediate path to riches,” he said. “It’s an immediate path to marketing expense. The carriers are making all the money off of this. The money is kind of flowing the wrong way.”

Despite the erosion in circulation and advertising in U.S. newspapers’ print editions, those news organizations have seen mixed success in building an audience of web readers. For instance, the Los Angeles Times has a weekly print audience of 4.4 million readers, or 34 percent of its market area, according to a new report from Scarborough Research. The newspaper’s weekly web site audience, meanwhile, is 740,000, or 6 percent of its market area.

The audience of U.S. readers who get their news via mobile devices, meanwhile, would be “just nonexistent,” Mr. Borrell said. “We’re at the early stages of mobile, even though everyone has a device. There’s an awful lot of content looking for an audience.”

Also investing in Encinitas, California-based Verve Wireless was Iron Capital.

Newspapers have seen their advertising revenues shrink as online properties like Google, Craigslist and myriad job and classified advertising sites grab market share. At the same time, they have had difficulty in transferring print readers’ allegiances to online properties. Even the most successful, like The Washington Post have only 22 percent of its audience going to its website, Washingtonpost.com.

Mobile devices, however, are seen as an opportunity to tap newspapers’ strength in local news gathering with emerging location-based services.