Elizabeth Kennedy named deputy international editor

I want to let you know about an important move we’re making to strengthen ties and foster more collaboration between our international news operation and our foreign affairs journalists in Washington -- to make our news report overall more global. Effective immediately, Deputy Washington Bureau Chief Elizabeth Kennedy will also take on the role of deputy international editor. One of the AP’s biggest strengths is our ability to harness our global talents to break news. It is a longterm competitive advantage for AP that we want to expand. To that end, Elizabeth will work closely with Vice President for International News Ian Phillips and the international news directors to help direct and coordinate reporting from different parts of the globe, including Washington, to break more news. This aims to benefit all our customers, including our international customers. Elizabeth will retain her title of deputy Washington bureau chief, and will continue to play a vital role in all aspects of the Washington bureau as the U.S. presidential campaign and impeachment inquiry ramp up. In specific, Elizabeth will continue to oversee the foreign affairs/national security team, and other reporters in Washington, as she does now. We also want to identify more career opportunities for our journalists. With that in mind, Elizabeth will work closely with Washington Bureau Chief Julie Pace, Deputy Managing Editor for U.S. News Noreen Gillespie, Ian and news directors globally to promote a healthy back and forth of talent and robust career development tracks. Elizabeth brings a wealth of experience to these additional duties. She has reported from and managed AP operations in Africa, the Middle East and Asia, with postings in Nairobi, Beirut, New Delhi and Bangkok. As Beirut bureau chief, she played a critical role in AP’s strong coverage of the Syrian conflict. In 2012, the AP was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for its reporting on the Syrian war. After joining the Washington bureau two years ago, she guided our coverage of the Mueller investigation - coverage notable for its good judgment and strong explanatory and analysis work. Elizabeth has also reported from Iraq and Afghanistan. In Asia, she oversaw AP news operations in all formats in South Asia, a territory that included India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal. Later, she led the multiformat Southeast Asia news report through a spate of news that included the airport assassination of North Korea’s Kim Jong Nam in Malaysia and a surge in insurgent activities in the Philippines. Elizabeth joined AP in 1999 as an editor in New York. She later worked in the Trenton, New Jersey, bureau, where the stories she covered included the 2001 anthrax attacks and Sept. 11 detainees. She also worked as an editor on the AP's national and international desks in New York before moving to Nairobi in 2006. Elizabeth will add the international duties immediately. Please join me in congratulating her, and Julie and Ian, on this important step. Best, Sally