08/28/2003
AP names four veteran bureau chiefs as new regional vice presidents

NEW YORK The Associated Press has promoted four veteran bureau chiefs to the newly created positions of regional vice presidents to help oversee marketing and news initiatives for newspapers in the United States.

Sue A. Cross, John O. Lumpkin, Paul H. Stevens and Linda Stowell will oversee chiefs of bureau in geographic regions, with particular emphasis on identifying product and service opportunities and marketing them to newspapers.

The regional vice presidents also will coordinate management responsibilities with regional executives from the News department to enhance newsgathering operations across print, photos, broadcast and multimedia formats.

The announcement was made Wednesday by Tom Brettingen, AP's vice president and director of the newly structured Newspaper and New Media Markets department. The department combines Newspaper Membership, which manages AP relationships with its U.S. newspaper owners; AP Digital, which licenses multimedia news services to the online and wireless markets; and Information Services, which licenses content to the corporate desktop market.

Cross, based in Los Angeles, will head the Western region. She has been chief of bureau in Los Angeles since 1998, and previously served as bureau chief in Phoenix, assistant bureau chief in Chicago, and news editor in Illinois and Texas. She joined the AP in Cincinnati in 1983, and also worked in the Columbus and Toledo, Ohio, and Juneau, Alaska, bureaus. She is a native of North Royalton, Ohio, and a graduate of Ohio State University.

Lumpkin will be responsible for the South region, based in Dallas. He has been bureau chief in Dallas since 1982, after earlier bureau chief positions in North Carolina and the Iowa/Nebraska territory. He joined AP in Dallas in 1971 and served as correspondent in San Antonio and assistant bureau chief in Dallas. He was honored by the Texas Associated Press Managing Editors Association this year for outstanding service to Texas journalism. He is a native of Nashville, Tenn., and a graduate of the University of Virginia.

Stevens will be in charge of the Central region, based in Kansas City. He has been bureau chief in Kansas City since 1984, and prior to that served as bureau chief in Indianapolis and Albuquerque, N.M. He joined the AP in Albany, N.Y., in 1973, worked in the St. Louis bureau and served as correspondent in Wichita, Kan. He was raised in Fort Dodge, Iowa, and earned a BA in journalism from the University of Iowa and an MA in journalism from the University of Kansas.

Stowell will be responsible for the East region, based in Philadelphia. She has been chief of bureau in Philadelphia since 1997, and prior to that served as bureau chief for Maryland/Delaware and Virginia. She joined the AP in Hartford in 1985 and served as correspondent in Stamford, Conn., and news editor in Richmond, Va. She is a native of Rochester, N.Y., and a graduate of Mount Union College in Alliance, Ohio.

contact: Jack Stokes
212-621-1720