Victoria Eastwood named Middle East news director

Victoria comes to us from CNN, where she is senior director of coverage based in Asia, overseeing major breaking news outside the U.S. in her hours, and driving coverage and investigations in the region. She is a tremendously ambitious news leader well-versed in leading teams on a global level for a multiplatform audience, and she has extensive experience working on assignments in the Middle East. She has worked as a field producer covering major stories in Iraq, Israel, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Libya and Ukraine. As Nic Robertson’s producer Victoria worked in Libya following the fall of Moammar Gadhafi, in Baghdad she covered the rise of ISIS, and has had several stints working in Jerusalem and covered the 2014 Israel-Hamas war.

Victoria has a digital-first approach to coverage that aligns with one of AP’s main news priorities. She is well-versed in working across formats and on packaging elements of a story in ways that engage audiences – something more important than ever in the Middle East and everywhere for the AP. Prior to her current role in Hong Kong, Victoria was based in London for CNN planning coverage of Europe, the Middle East and Africa. She began at CNN as a producer based in South Africa. Before that she worked for Al Jazeera English in London, and spent five years in various roles for ITN’s Channel 4 News. She started out at BBC Radio 4. Victoria has won two Emmys. In 2022 her team won Outstanding Hard News Feature Story about a 9-year-old girl sold into child marriage in Afghanistan. In 2020 Victoria won an Emmy for Breaking News coverage of Turkey’s incursion into Syria. The same year she and her team won the prestigious Royal Television Society award for Breaking News coverage of the protests in Hong Kong. Even as she has led excellence in news coverage, she has always made a priority of mentoring staff and supporting their career growth. This is also a continuing priority for us — particularly in the Middle East, where we have so many talented and dedicated colleagues. This is of course a bittersweet announcement, as it also means we will soon be saying farewell to Karin Laub, a true AP institution who has given four decades of excellence and energy to the news cooperative (and continues to contribute every day with her deft oversight of the Israel-Hamas war). Karin steps down on April 30, and we will be looking for opportunities to celebrate her career in the weeks ahead. Victoria will be joining us in July. Please join me in welcoming Victoria to the AP!