New managing editor and deputy managing editor for operations are named

It’s my pleasure to announce two new leadership assignments in the news department, part of our ongoing efforts to make the newsroom’s organizational structure simple and accountable. Both are aimed at improving our ability to deliver fast, accurate, competitive and distinctive journalism each day, across formats and products, across the globe.

Brian Carovillano will be AP’s new managing editor, the No. 2 spot in news. David Scott will take on a new role as deputy managing editor for operations.

As overall managing editor, Brian will report to me and take on responsibility for newsgathering across all formats globally, positioning us to dominate on big spot stories, to break news and to create exclusive and distinctive enterprise and investigative work.

The heads of U.S. news, enterprise, investigations and business news will report directly to him, and I expect to add responsibilities to his portfolio in the weeks ahead. The U.S. regional cross-format news directors will continue to report to Brian until we hire a new head of U.S. news later this year.

Ian Phillips, who leads our overseas news operations and the international regional news directors, will continue to report to me but will work closely with Brian. All have responsibility for the news report across formats, working collaboratively with video, photo and digital leaders to ensure our coverage is sharply competitive in all of AP’s products. Meanwhile, we continue the work to build out the regional cross-format leadership teams, both internationally and in the U.S.

In the new role of overall news operations chief, David will be responsible for creating the conditions that allow AP’s journalists to succeed, including how we edit and publish our content, run our budgets and staff our locations. He’ll be a liaison with corporate finance, human resources, technology and our legal team.

David will also report to me, working collaboratively with all news leaders and directly overseeing a small operations team, plus the news research staff, the data center in Spokane and our Washington-based race calling and polling team.

As managing editor for U.S. news for the past three years, Brian oversaw bureaus and regional desks across the 50 states. Before that, he served as AP’s regional editor in Asia, based in Bangkok, opening new bureaus in North Korea and Myanmar and helping the region win awards for its coverage of Japan’s 2011 earthquake, tsunami and nuclear crisis.

Brian joined AP in 2000 and worked as a reporter and editor in Providence, Rhode Island, Boston and San Francisco. In 2008, he became regional editor for the southern U.S., based in Atlanta, where he led AP’s award-winning coverage of the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill. He worked at newspapers in New Hampshire and Massachusetts before joining AP.

David, as U.S. political editor, directed coverage of the 2014 midterm elections and the intense and challenging 2016 presidential campaign and elections, staying on in Washington after to help with the transition to the Trump presidency.

Prior to Washington, David was the central region editor, overseeing AP’s report in Middle America. In his five years in Chicago, his teams won the Associated Press Media Editors’ deadline reporting award three times (and an honorable mention in a fourth year). A former North Carolina news editor, he began his AP career as a reporter in St. Louis.

We’re aiming for transparency in all organizational decisions and will be sending out organizational charts as time goes on to keep things simple and easy to understand. We believe strongly that AP’s success depends on a clear news strategy and clear lines of responsibility and accountability for our news managers.

Brian, David and I are open to all input and ideas as we continue to work on organizational changes. That’s how we want the news department to work — collaboratively — so come ahead with questions and suggestions.

And, of course, please join me in congratulating Brian and David.

Cheers,
Sally