AP names Anna Jo Bratton to post of US Enterprise Editor

NEW YORK — The Associated Press has named Anna Jo Bratton as U.S. Enterprise Editor on the news cooperative’s Global Enterprise Team, where she will work with colleagues across the United States to produce high-impact journalism for the country and for international audiences.

In her new role, Bratton, 39, also will identify and help manage a portfolio of collaborations with AP customers and nonprofit news organizations in the U.S., seeking to produce unique stories that break news and amplify the strengths of participating organizations.

The appointment was announced Friday by Marjorie Miller, Global Enterprise Editor.

“Bratton is a creative and enthusiastic news leader who will help bring some of the AP’s most ambitious work to our customers and news consumers,” Miller said.

Bratton will work from Phoenix, where she has served as deputy director of newsgathering for the U.S. West, overseeing breaking news and enterprise across 13 states.

Last year, she worked with journalists from across the U.S. on COIVD-19 coverage, including the devastating impacts on the Navajo Nation and a neighborhood in Chicago, and the virus’ effect on children across the world. She led the AP’s coverage of hunger in America, as many people lined up at food banks for the first time.

Bratton has also worked with news organizations outside the AP on important collaborations, such as one centered on wildfires in California and on mobile homes and pressures in the housing market in fast-growing states like Colorado.

“Part of AP’s mission is to work with news organizations to create ambitious, engaging journalism that wouldn’t exist without collaborations,” said Noreen Gillespie, deputy managing editor for U.S. News. “Bratton is brilliant at working with diverse teams, and has a history of leading successful collaborations.

Previously, Bratton oversaw some of the region’s most important stories, from the deadly wildfire in Paradise, California to coverage of marijuana legalization and gay marriage. She has served on AP’s stylebook committee.

Bratton grew up in Lincoln, Nebraska, where she worked her first newspaper job as an obituary clerk at the Lincoln Journal Star.

After working at newspapers in St. Louis and Des Moines, Iowa, Bratton joined the AP in 2007. She earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in 2003.