AP adds 5 video journalists across Europe, Asia

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS April 7, 2011, 9:14AM ET

AP adds 5 video journalists across Europe, Asia

LONDON

The Associated Press has added a senior producer and four video journalists as part of its drive to strengthen its coverage of Europe and Asia for broadcast and digital customers. The positions are among 12 being created in those regions.

The appointments were announced Wednesday by Vice President Sandy MacIntyre, who directs the agency's international video coverage.

David MacDougall was named Senior Producer for the Nordic and Baltic regions and will be based in Helsinki, Finland. The video journalists are Adam Pemble in Prague, Czech Republic; Philipp-Moritz Jenne in Vienna; Miki Toda in Tokyo, and Tassanee Vejpongsa in Taipei, Taiwan.

"The new staff will focus on covering exactly the kind of regionally relevant content which we know from talking to broadcasters and digital news providers that their audiences need," MacIntyre said. "Putting more dedicated video journalists to work in key regions will help us shine a torch on issues which would otherwise go unreported."

For the last two years, MacDougall was based in Islamabad as AP's senior producer for South Asia. His recent coverage included unrest in Bahrain, the World Cup in South Africa and the earthquake and tsunami in Japan. He previously worked for Fox News, based in Baghdad.

Pemble will be part of AP's new Prague-based hub for eastern and central Europe, a region stretching from the Baltic Sea to the Black Sea. He previously worked as a video journalist at AP's New York bureau. Pemble also has worked for television station WCCO in Minnesota.

Jenne joins AP from German national broadcaster ARD, where he worked as a video journalist in Bavaria.

Toda most recently worked as senior producer for ABC News' Tokyo bureau. She previously worked for the Japanese network NTV and covered Iraq for Fuji TV. Toda earlier worked in AP's Tokyo office as one of the company's first video journalists.

Vejpongsa also rejoins AP after working for UK broadcaster ITN in Bangkok. She previously worked at AP's Bangkok and Beijing offices.