09/02/2004

Ellen Hale appointed director of AP Corporate Communications

NEW YORK -- The Associated Press has named Ellen Hale as director of AP Corporate Communications. Effective October 4, Hale will oversee a broad range of communication initiatives both inside and outside the company.

Hale will report to Tom Curley, AP President and CEO, who announced the appointment. She succeeds Vice President and Director of Corporate Communications Kelly Smith Tunney who is coordinating a special project for the AP board of directors to update AP's oral and written histories and expand the archives.

"Ellen's strong journalistic background and newsroom management experience are well-suited to the position," said Curley. "I'm delighted that she's joining AP and I'm confident that her strategic direction in corporate communications will highlight our achievements as the global news network."

Hale has been a journalist for more than 20 years, most recently serving as London Correspondent for USA Today where in addition to developing enterprise stories for all five sections of the newspaper, she anchored European coverage of the war on terrorism. She was deployed to Israel during the war with Iraq.

Prior to joining USA Today, Hale served as the Deputy Managing Editor/Features for The Journal News in White Plains, New York. Over the course of her career, she held a number of positions with Gannett News Service including National Medical Correspondent, National Environmental Correspondent, and National Correspondent based in San Francisco, Calif.

Hale was awarded a Knight Journalism Fellowship in 1993 and studied creative writing and economic costs of environmental protection. She has received a number of awards including the Overseas Press Club Hal Boyle Award for Outstanding Reporting from Abroad for a year long series on the global spread of AIDS, a Newsroom Supervisor Award and several Best of Gannett Awards for Explanatory and Special Reporting.

Contact: Jack Stokes at 212-621-1720