AP names Brummitt, Hranjski to bureau chief posts
May 29, 2012, 6:21 AM
NEW YORK (AP) – The Associated Press has named two foreign correspondents as bureau chiefs in Manila and Hanoi.
Chris Brummitt, currently chief of bureau for Pakistan, will become bureau chief for Vietnam in Hanoi. Hrvoje Hranjski, currently news editor in Manila, has been promoted to chief of bureau for the Philippines.
The appointments were announced Tuesday by John Daniszewski, senior managing editor for international news.
Hranjski, 39, joined the AP in 1993 in his hometown of Zagreb, Croatia, and covered the former Yugoslavia and the Balkan wars before transferring to Nairobi, Kenya.
Two years later, he became correspondent in Kigali, Rwanda, reporting on the aftermath of the 1994 Rwandan genocide and wars in the neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo. He was wounded while covering battles in the Congolese port city of Kisangani.
He later served as an editor and reporter at the Mideast Desk in Cairo and became news editor in Manila in late 2002. He has covered many big stories in the Asia-Pacific region, including the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami and the 2005 earthquake in Pakistan. He has served as acting bureau chief since 2009.
Hranjski studied law at the University of Zagreb and has a degree from the Center for the Administration of Justice.
As Pakistan bureau chief since 2008, Brummitt helped oversee AP’s coverage of Osama bin Laden’s killing by U.S. commandos. He also led AP’s coverage of the Taliban’s advance into Pakistan and the 2010 floods. He uncovered exclusive stories on Islamist infiltration in the Pakistani army, the secret journeys of Southeast Asian extremists to the country and the existence of militant training camps.
A native of western England, Brummitt, 40, joined the AP in Jakarta shortly after receiving a degree in Indonesian literature from the School of Oriental and African Studies at the University of London.
He was in charge of AP’s news operations in Indonesia on Dec. 26, 2004, when a tsunami triggered by a giant earthquake off the country’s northwest tip killed up to 230,000 people. AP’s coverage of the Indian Ocean tsunami won the National Headliner Award for Spot News and the Associated Press Managing Editors’ Award for Deadline Reporting in 2005.
“Hrvoje and Chris have been in the thick of some of the biggest Asia stories of the past decade, and time after time they have proven themselves to be brave and talented journalists, and strong leaders,” said Brian Carovillano, AP’s Asia-Pacific regional editor. “I’m really happy to have both of them serving in key leadership roles in Asia.”
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