Peter Morgan, the photo editor for New York City and New Jersey, will take over as the deputy for storytelling and photos. Joe Danborn, news editor for the Rockies, will serve as deputy for newsgathering.
Danborn and Morgan will work with Gillesby to lead a group of journalists in 10 states stretching from Ohio to Maine. They will be based at AP's headquarters in New York.
Morgan has been the photo editor for the New York City bureau since 2004, and led a team of staff and freelance photographers. He led visual teams covering Superstorm Sandy, the school shooting in Sandy Hook, Connecticut, the 2015 papal visit, the World Series, U.S. Open and was a key editor overseeing a global team at the past two Olympics. Prior to joining AP, he was a senior photographer for Reuters, where he covered the Sept. 11 attacks.
“In the midst of change, or breaking news, Peter is often viewed as a calming presence in the newsroom,” Gillesby said.
Danborn is a native text editor who has overseen the news report in Colorado, Montana and Wyoming since 2016, where he worked to better integrate journalists of all formats into news brainstorming discussions. He previously worked as enterprise editor for the South region, where he helped build the first domestic regional publishing hub.
He has directed coverage of immigration and been an on-site news editor for award-winning news teams at several hurricanes and the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. He has also led national investigations that uncovered misspending of federal funds for Hurricane Katrina rebuilding, graft in the spending of BP funds following the Gulf Oil spill and private prison corporations that profited from the detention of illegal immigrants.
“Joe is the type of editor who rolls up his sleeves as soon as a story breaks, and works right alongside his team,” Gillesby said. “The entire region will benefit from his leadership.”
The East region’s publishing center is moving from Philadelphia to New York in early September. Morgan and Danborn will begin immediately to help facilitate the move.