MEXICO CITY (AP) - Paul Byrne, a seasoned broadcast journalist at The Associated Press who has directed reporting on civil unrest, economic instability and other major stories in Latin America, is taking on an expanded regional role.
Based in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Byrne will lead video coverage as the AP’s Deputy News Director for Newsgathering for Latin America and the Caribbean. Byrne will focus primarily on video. He will direct a recently expanded team of field staff and producers in driving forward the news agency’s visual journalism and aim to enhance speed across the AP news report from Latin America.
The announcement was made on Tuesday by Matt Chandler, AP’s news director for Latin America.
“With experience as both a video journalist and manager, Paul is perfectly positioned to drive AP video content from Latin America,” Chandler said. “He will work hard to match and exceed customer demands for live and edited stories, drawing on his vision for coverage in a very competitive market.”
Byrne’s track record of delivering fast, comprehensive coverage in big stories will serve him well as Latin America grapples with economic and political challenges, as well as the region’s first cases of the COVID-19 virus, Chandler said.
Byrne, 41, became interim news director for southern South America in 2018 before being formalized in the role last year. He has headed coverage on clergy sex abuse and economic tumult in Argentina, unrest in Chile and Bolivia and other major stories. Prior to that, he was the senior video producer in the Southern Cone since 2014 and covered stories such as World Cup soccer and the Olympics in Brazil, U.S. presidential trips and papal visits.
Before joining the AP, Byrne freelanced for The Guardian, BBC and RTE in Argentina and worked in Moscow during the launch of international news channel Russia Today. Originally from Kilkenny in Ireland, the father of two has a master’s degree in broadcast journalism from the University of Sheffield in the United Kingdom.
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