New team to cover US water issues

We’re excited to announce the launch of our new water team – a group of talented journalists who have been hired to cover water issues thanks to a grant from the Walton Family Foundation. Suman Naishadham, an editor/reporter at the AP’s West Regional Desk based in Phoenix since July, will cover water policy in Washington, D.C. She has written for Bloomberg, Reuters, The Wall Street Journal and other outlets from Mexico City and Hyderabad, India, and has covered a variety of issues – the environment, tax policy and genital mutilation in the U.S. Brittany Peterson takes on the role of video journalist, based in Denver. She worked most recently at McClatchy, where she teamed with text reporters around the country to produce compelling environmental video pieces. She previously was a producer at Reuters and a freelancer based in Chile.

Suman and Brittany both start June 1. We are working to fill the third position, a reporter to be based in St. Louis. Health and Science reporter Candice Choi will lead the team, helping the three journalists coordinate with reporters and editors across the company and with the AP’s environmental beat team, which is led by editor Tim Reiterman. This team expands AP’s coverage of climate in significant ways. Its mandate is to help AP bring readers and viewers to the vital waterways and water systems that directly impact millions of Americans and to tell stories about how water is stored, used and protected. We know many U.S. staffers already cover water issues and we see this beat as complementing and expanding on that excellent coverage.