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BOSTON (AP) — William J. Kole, a veteran bureau chief and news leader for The Associated Press in the U.S. and overseas, has been named news editor for New England, overseeing coverage of breaking news and enterprise across the six-state region.
The appointment was announced Wednesday by Karen Testa, editor for the East region of the U.S.
Kole will remain based in Boston, where he has overseen business operations since 2009 as AP's New England bureau chief. In his new role, he will work closely with reporters in Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont to shape the daily news report, strengthen beat reporting and generate compelling multimedia enterprise.
"There is no one better suited for this position," Testa said. "Over the past five years in Boston, Bill has become intimately familiar with the news, staff and members in the region. He is collaborative, authoritative and a font of enthusiasm for making and breaking the best news."
A Massachusetts native, Kole previously was AP bureau chief in Vienna from 2001-2009, where he directed news coverage of central and eastern Europe, reporting extensively on terrorism, immigration, politics and unrest across Europe, Africa and the Middle East. Kole, who joined AP in Detroit in 1991, also served as bureau chief in Hartford, Connecticut, and Amsterdam, Netherlands, and had news assignments in Paris, in New York and at the statehouse in Lansing, Michigan.
He will draw on his global experiences in working with the AP's team in New England to tell the stories of the region to the world.
Kole already has demonstrated his creativity and stamina in news coverage. On the first running of the Boston Marathon since the bombing, Kole developed the #26Tweets2Boston hashtag and tweeted observations at each mile as he ran the 26.2-mile course.
Kole studied journalism at Boston University and worked for The Sun Chronicle in Attleboro, Massachusetts, before joining the AP. He teaches journalism at Wheaton College in Norton, Massachusetts, and is a past president and board member of the New England Society of News Editors.
Kole, 53, succeeds Cara Rubinsky, who transferred to Chicago as assistant Central Region editor.
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