ABC News has shifted the duties of four staffers naming them the newest digital reporters for the network. The new appointments, all here in the U.S., expand ABC News’ digital reporting first announced in October 2007.
The new assignments include “World News” producer Clayton Sandell who will be based in Denver working from affiliate KMGH covering breaking news in the region; currently with the political unit, Tahman Bradley will based in Detroit at WXYZ-TV covering the auto industry and the upper midwest; Karen Travers rejoins ABC’s White House team and Matthew Jaffe will cover the Treasury Department, financial issues and the overall economy.
The reporters, so-called one-man-bands, will contribute on- and off-air to all ABC News broadcasts and platforms as well as ABC News Radio and affiliate news service NewsOne.
“Technology has given us the ability to expand and enrich our reporting from overseas as our digital reporters have proven,” said ABC News president David Westin in a press release. “Now, we will bring that same technology to bear as we expand our domestic coverage.”
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IN A FURTHER EXPANSION OF REPORTING CORPS, ABC NEWS ANNOUNCES THE DEPLOYMENT OF DIGITAL REPORTERS TO DOMESTIC POSTS
New Assignments in Denver and Detroit
Two Reporters Added to ABC News’ Coverage of White House and Economy
ABC News today announced the expansion of its digital reporter corps with new assignments in Denver and Detroit and the addition of two digital reporters to the network’s coverage of the Obama Administration and the economy. These domestic digital reporters join a team of seven that ABC News first deployed to foreign posts in 2007.
Clayton Sandell will be based in Denver, covering breaking news across the region as well as focusing on stories involving the environment, climate change and alternative energy. Tahman Bradley will be based in Detroit, covering Michigan and neighboring states as well as the auto industry. Karen Travers rejoins ABC News’ White House Team as a digital reporter and Matthew Jaffe is covering the Treasury Department, financial issues and the overall economy.
Using digital technologies, the reporters will contribute on- and off-air reporting to all ABC News’ broadcasts and platforms; ABC News Radio; and ABC NewsOne, the network’s affiliate news service. They will also regularly file for ABC News’ digital platforms, including ABCNEWS.com, ABC News NOW, and ABC News’ webcasts.
“Technology has given us the ability to expand and enrich our reporting from overseas as our digital reporters have proven,” said ABC News President David Westin. “Now, we will bring that same technology to bear as we expand our domestic coverage.”
Prior to moving to Denver, Clayton Sandell was a producer for “World News with Charles Gibson,” covering a wide range of stories encompassing politics, science, and climate change. He also reported on-air for ABC’s affiliate service NewsOne, “Focus Earth with Bob Woodruff,” and the “World News” webcast.
Sandell, along with correspondent Bill Blakemore, recently returned from a trip onboard the U.S. Coast Guard icebreaker Healy in the Bering Sea, following scientists researching the effects of climate change in the Arctic region. In October 2007, Clayton traveled with correspondent David Kerley to the cities of Beijing and Shenzhen, producing a special series – “Made in China” — on toy recalls and food safety. Earlier that year he was in Greenland covering global warming stories for “World News with Charles Gibson,” “Good Morning America” and ABCNEWS.com.
In April 2007 Sandell was part of the ABC News team that covered the tragic shooting massacre at Virginia Tech University. He has reported on the approach and aftermath of numerous hurricanes, including Hurricane Ike from Galveston Texas in 2008 and category-four Hurricane Wilma from Cancun Mexico in 2005. He was in Haiti in February 2004 during the violent uprisings that led to the ouster of President Jean Bertrand Aristide, and also covered the trials of the two men eventually convicted in the 2002 D.C.-area sniper murders.
Sandell graduated from the University of California Riverside with a degree in political science.
During the 2008 presidential election, Tahman Bradley distinguished himself as an integral part of the ABC News team covering the campaign. He took lead reporting duties for the Political Unit’s coverage of campaign fundraising and political ads. Bradley also spent time on the campaign trail, filling in as an embedded reporter covering Barack Obama and Rudy Giuliani. He covered the vice presidential debate and the three presidential debates.
Bradley has appeared on-air for ABC News as a fill-in correspondent at NewsOne, ABC’s affiliate news service and on ABC News NOW. He also created and anchored a weekly show for ABCNEWS.com, “Sunday Sound.”
Bradley first joined the Political Unit in Washington as a field producer, covering the 2006 midterm election. He was a co-author of “The Note” and reported on key U.S. House and Senate races. Bradley also was part of the team producing the Politics Page for ABCNEWS.com. He began his career with ABC News as a Carnegie Fellow working on special projects with ABC News’ Investigative Unit in New York.
A native of Chicago, Bradley is a graduate of Howard University, where he studied journalism and political science.
This is Karen Travers second stint on the White House beat, after covering President George W. Bush’s second term.
Travers is a regular on-air contributor to ABC News NOW, the network’s broadband entity, and she files regularly for ABCNEWS.com. She most recently served as the Deputy Political Director for ABC News’ 2008 election coverage, reporting for all shows and platforms and taking the lead for the network’s reporting on the Democratic and Republican delegate processes. In her role in the Political Unit, Travers covered several key battleground states and reported from several presidential debates and both the Democratic and Republican conventions.
From December 2004 through June 2007, prior to joining ABC News’ Political Unit, Travers worked as a White House producer, traveling on all of President George W. Bush’s domestic and foreign trips. At the White House, she was responsible for ABC News’ editorial coverage and planning for White House events, speeches and breaking news. Before the White House assignment, Travers covered the Bush-Cheney 2004 campaign as a campaign reporter and was a researcher for Ted Koppel at “Nightline.”
A native of Blue Bell, Pa., Travers graduated in 2000 with a degree in American government from Georgetown University, where she served as editor in chief of “The Hoya.” She earned a master’s degree in liberal studies from Georgetown in 2003. She joined ABC News in 2000.
Matthew Jaffe reports on economic issues from Washington, covering the Treasury Department, Federal Reserve, and other government agencies overseeing the financial sector.
Jaffe is a regular on-air contributor to ABC News NOW, the network’s broadband entity, including the morning program “Money Matters.” He also files frequently for ABC News Radio and ABCNEWS.com.
Most recently, in the fall of 2008, he covered the vice presidential campaign of then-Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del., traveling around the country to report on the campaign for all ABC News platforms.
Since starting at ABC News in 2006, Jaffe has also worked as a general assignment off-air reporter, covering a wide range of stories including Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s impeachment scandal and the congressional investigation into steroid use in baseball.
A native of Haverford, Pa., a suburb of Philadelphia, Jaffe graduated from Georgetown University with a bachelor’s degree in Italian.