03/10/2005

Picht named AP bureau chief for Kansas and Missouri

NEW YORK -- Randy Picht, director of The Associated Press' online state government news and information service, Capitolwire, has been named chief of bureau for Kansas and Missouri.

The appointment was announced today by Tom Brettingen, senior vice president of the Newspaper & New Media Markets department.

Picht joined the AP in Albany, N.Y., in 1983 and worked in bureaus in Rochester, N.Y., and St. Louis. He was selected to help cover the 1992 Winter Olympics in France.

In 1997, he was named AP business editor and directed coverage of global business news. He served as a member of the board of directors for the Society of American Business Editors and Writers and directed the group's "Best in Business" awards contest for four years.

In 2000, he was named director of the AP's stock market table business and helped the newspaper industry handle extended trading on Wall Street and the switch from fractions to decimal points in reporting prices. In January 2003, Picht moved from New York to Harrisburg, Pa., to oversee the Capitolwire operation.

Picht replaces Beth Grace, who resigned from the AP in January.

Contact: Ellen Hale, AP Corporate Communications, 212.621.1720