07/19/06

Beth Belton named to lead AP's new financial news desk in Washington, D.C.

NEW YORK -- Beth Belton, a business journalist with experience at newspapers, magazines and online, has been named a news editor for The Associated Press and will lead a new financial desk in Washington.

The appointment was announced July 17 by Kevin Noblet, AP's business editor.

Under Belton's direction, the new desk will provide added breadth and depth to AP's business news coverage. It will focus on corporate and regulatory activity for a premium service, AP Financial News, that was started in 2004.

Belton was online news editor for BusinessWeek from 2000 until this year, overseeing a significant expansion of the news magazine's Internet presence. Before that, she was a reporter and editor for the Money section of USA Today for 10 years. She also has worked for investment publications and The Washington Times.

A native of Dayton, Ohio, she earned a journalism degree from Kent State University in Ohio. She began her career at weekly and daily newspapers in Ohio.

It launched AP Financial News from its New York headquarters in May 2004 to meet a growing demand, particularly on the Internet, for coverage of company and financial market news. Creation of the Washington desk is part of a major expansion of the service.

Contact: Jack Stokes, AP Corporate Communications, 212.621.1720