New Duties:  Coordinator for the Associated Press Television Radio Association:

Imagine being caught in the vortex that is today's media and being charged with helping improve content by strengthening membership in one of the world's largest news gathering organizations.

That's me!

I'm the new APTRA Coordinator. My particular chapter of the Associated Press Television Radio Association represents AP's broadcast news members in 17 states, most notably California, Oregon, Washington, Nevada, Arizona, Colorado, Utah, Idaho, Hawaii, Montana, Wyoming and Alaska.

Naturally, as a seasoned, career journalist I couldn't be more excited.

The AP is one of the largest and most trusted sources of independent newsgathering, supplying a steady stream of news to its members, international subscribers and commercial customers. AP is neither privately owned nor government-funded; instead, as a not-for-profit news cooperative owned by its American newspaper and broadcast members, it can maintain its single-minded focus on newsgathering and its commitment to the highest standards of objective, accurate journalism.

AP’s commitment to independent, comprehensive journalism has deep roots. Founded in 1846, AP has covered all the major news events of the past 165 years, providing high-quality, informed reporting of everything from wars and elections to championship games and royal weddings.

Today, AP employs the latest technology to collect and distribute content. It is in the process of overhauling its video and photography content: transitioning to high-definition, expanding its coverage and building a new, flexible, powerful infrastructure. AP has the industry’s most sophisticated digital photo network; a 24-hour continuously updated online, multimedia news service; a state-of-the-art television news service; and one of the largest radio networks in the U.S. Its commercial digital photo archive is one of the world's largest collections of historical and contemporary imagery. AP Mobile, the AP’s award-winning news app, has been downloaded over 9 million times since its launch in 2008, and AP has a strong social media presence, building new connections between AP and its members, customers and consumers.

Since the Pulitzer Prize was established, in 1917, AP has received 51 Pulitzers, including 31 photo Pulitzers.

AP, which is headquartered in New York, operates in more than 280 locations worldwide, including every statehouse in the U.S. Two-thirds of its staffers are journalists.

I'll be working out of Los Angeles where the AP maintains a robust presence but will be focused on all APTRA's member states in the Western United States.