07/19/06

Brian Schwaner named AP news editor in Louisiana

NEW ORLEANS -- Brian Schwaner, assistant managing editor/business for The Cincinnati Enquirer, has been appointed news editor for The Associated Press in Louisiana.

Schwaner will be responsible for overseeing the AP's news and sports coverage in Louisiana, directing a staff of 14 reporters and two photographers. The appointment was announced July 12 by Mike McQueen, incoming chief of bureau for Louisiana and Mississippi.

Schwaner has been in charge of business coverage for the Enquirer since 2003, During his tenure, he designed and coordinated a newsroom-wide training program.

He began his journalism career editing two weekly newspapers in suburban New Orleans, and became managing editor of The Courier in Houma, La., in 1978.

Later that year, Schwaner joined The States-Item of New Orleans, which later merged with The Times-Picayune of New Orleans. He worked for the papers for 19 years, rising to deputy business editor of The Times-Picayune.

He became business editor of The Des Moines (Iowa) Register in 1997, and left in 1998 for a position as vice president of marketing and communications for MetroVision, an economic development partnership in New Orleans. In 2003, Schwaner joined the Enquirer as assistant managing editor/business.

Schwaner is a graduate of the University of New Orleans. He succeeds Kent Prince, who retired in February as Louisiana news editor after 40 years with the AP.

Contact: Jack Stokes, AP Corporate Communications, 212.621.1720