April 5, 2004

Edward S. Bell named AP bureau chief for southern New England

NEW YORK -- Edward S. Bell, chief of bureau for The Associated Press in Massachusetts and Rhode Island, will add Connecticut to his responsibility under a restructuring of the news agency's management of southern New England.

Bell, who is based in Boston, has overseen AP operations in Massachusetts and Rhode Island since 1999. In Connecticut, Bell succeeds Elaine Norton Hooker, who retired March 31 after 29 years with the AP.

The appointment was announced Monday by Tom Brettingen, senior vice president for Newspaper & New Media Markets.

"This is an opportunity for AP to broaden the responsibilities of a seasoned manager and newsman with experience in all forms of media," Brettingen said.

A native of Peabody, Mass., Bell has spent more than three decades in New England journalism.

He joined the AP in 1990 as regional television executive for the Northeast. Six years later he became director of television membership based in Washington, D.C., directing the AP's sales and marketing efforts for television stations across the United States.

Before joining the AP, Bell was managing editor of WHDH-TV and news director of WHDH Radio and WBZ Radio, all in Boston. He also worked for 11 years as a reporter and columnist for the Salem (Mass.) Evening News. He was a 1992 recipient of the Yankee Quill award for distinguished New England journalism.

Hooker served as bureau chief in Hartford for the past three years, her second stint in charge of the Connecticut operation. She previously was the bureau chief in Portland, Ore., news editor in Hartford and Boston, and correspondent in Springfield, Mass. She also was an executive at AP's headquarters in New York, working in the Corporate Communications and Newspaper Membership departments.