ABC News Rejiggers Correspondent Assignments

By Alex Weprin 

ABC News has made a number of changes to its correspondent assignments, both domestically and abroad.

Some of the more notable moves:

Jeffrey Kofman will move to ABC’s London bureau, he had been based in Miami. Kofman was front and center during two of 2010’s biggest news stories: the Chilean miner rescue and the BP oil spill.

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Matt Gutman, whose reporting for ABC News Radio during the BP oil spill drew praise from executives, will now be a correspondent for all ABC News broadcasts and platforms, and will be based out of Miami. Gutman is currently in Haiti reporting on the cholera outbreak there.

Jim Sciutto will return to Washington from London, where he has served as senior foreign correspondent since 2002.

A number of other moves, after the jump.

Alexander Marquardt will move from Moscow to Jerusalem, David Wright moves from Washington to Los Angeles, Yunji de Nies moves to Atlanta, while Jeremy Hubbard and Linsey Davis are named New York correspondents.

More details here:

ABC NEWS ANNOUNCES NEW CORRESPONDENT ASSIGNMENTS

ABC News today announced changes to correspondent assignments both domestically and internationally:

Jeffrey Kofman will move to ABC News’ London bureau, where he will join Miguel MarquezLama Hasan, and Nick Watt. Since joining ABC News in January 2001, Kofman has been based in Miami and has reported on developing stories throughout the southeast and from more than 20 countries in the Western Hemisphere. In addition, Kofman has travelled extensively completing six tours in the Middle East since September 11, 2001. Most recently, he was one of the first American news correspondents on the scene in when the Chilean mine collapsed in August and he reported from Chile during the historic 10-week long rescue effort. Kofman also played a prominent role in ABC News’ coverage of the BP oil spill in the Gulf, scoring numerous exclusives for the network, including the first television interview with BP CEO Tony Hayward. Also in London,Simon McGregor-Wood returns to bureau where he will work occasionally as a digital journalist. McGregor-Wood has been based in Jerusalem and has reported on a wide range of stories from countries throughout the Middle East. He joined ABC News in September 1988 as an associate producer in the London bureau.

Matt Gutman, who has reported for ABC News Radio since 2005, will now report for all ABC News broadcasts and platforms as a correspondent based out of Miami. Gutman’s reporting made headlines while part of the ABC News team covering the Gulf oil spill, breaking stories on BP’s efforts to plug the well, the economic and environmental devastation wrought by the spill, and BP’s tenuous relationship with the media. His reports on the BP spill marked Gutman’s first foray into television journalism. Prior to this assignment, Gutman reported for ABC News Radio from both Miami and Jerusalem.

Jim Sciutto returns to Washington from London, where he served as Senior Foreign Correspondent since 2002. He has reported from more than 40 countries in Europe, Asia, Latin America, Africa and the Middle East, including over a dozen assignments in Iraq.  Sciutto’s work has been recognized with a number of honors. He won Emmy awards in 2004 and 2005 for Best Story in a Regularly Scheduled Newscast, covering northern Iraq for the “Iraq: Where Things Stand.” He was also nominated for Emmy Awards in 2008 for his reporting from Myanmar and in 2005 for his reporting during the school siege in Beslan, Russia. Prior to his assignment overseas, Sciutto was based in Washington reporting primarily from the Pentagon.

Alexander Marquardt will move to Jerusalem from Moscow. Marquardt joined ABC News in June 2009 and most recently covered Russia for all ABC News broadcasts and platforms. In addition, Akiko Fujita joins ABC News as a digital journalist based in Tokyo. She was previously a reporter with ABC’s Seattle affiliate KOMO-TV.

David Wright moves from ABC’s Washington bureau to Los Angeles where he joins Mike Von Fremdand Abbie Boudreau. Wright who came to ABC News in 2000, has reported from the Middle East, Europe, Africa, Asia and North America.  Wright has been to Iraq more than a dozen times. He was in Baghdad before the U.S. invasion and has since traveled the length and breadth of the country. His stories from Baghdad and Fallujah, part of ABC’s ongoing “Where Things Stand” project, shared a 2004 Emmy Award.

Yunji de Nies moves to Atlanta, where she will join Steve Osunsami. Since joining ABC News in 2006, de Nies has covered a wide range of stories, including the final months of George W. Bush’s Presidency, President Gerald Ford’s death and funeral, Saddam Hussein’s execution, the 2007 UK Terror bombing and the deadly tornadoes in Lady Lake, Florida. Prior to her most recent assignment at the White House, de Nies worked as a correspondent for NewsOne, the network’s affiliate news service.

Furthermore, Linsey Davis and Jeremy Hubbard have been named the New York bureau correspondents. Davis, who joined ABC News in 2007, was previously a correspondent for ABC NewsOne. Hubbard co-anchored ABC’s early morning news programs “World News Now” and “America This Morning.”

Correspondents report for all ABC News’ broadcasts and platforms including: “World News with Diane Sawyer,” “Nightline,” and “Good Morning America,” as well as ABC News NOW, ABCNews.com, and ABC News Radio.

T.J. Winick, who previously was based out of Washington, D.C. for NewsOne has moved to New York and Diana Alvear has moved from Chicago to Los Angeles. Both will continue in their roles as correspondents for ABC NewsOne. The affiliate news service provides live and packaged news reports for 200 ABC affiliates around the country, as well as more than 30 domestic and international clients, including BBC, NHK, ARD/Germany and CTV Canada.

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