AP creates team of statehouse government specialists to provide 'extra reporting firepower'

The Associated Press announced on Thursday that it is creating a team of statehouse government specialists to enhance the work of AP reporters already working in all 50 statehouses, Erin Madigan White reports for AP. "The specialists will collaborate with statehouse reporters, as well as on their own projects and stories focused on government accountability and strong explanatory reporting. Their over-arching goal will be 'to show how state government is impacting the lives of people across the country,' said Brian Carovillano, managing editor for U.S. news."

The team, which consists of team leader Tom Verdin, David Crary, David Lieb, Ryan Foley, Christina Almeida Cassidy and Tom McCarth, will complement the current state government correspondents by providing "extra reporting firepower in on the most important stories," White writes. They will also partner with other reporters "to pursue bigger and more ambitious enterprise on the business of state government."

AP did not give a date for when the team will begin covering stories, but as an example of what some of the reporters are currently writing, Tom Verdin, who covers Sacramento, wrote this week on the state retiree health gap reaching $72 billion, while David Lieb wrote a story this week on officials in Jefferson City, Mo., withdrawing plans for online college scholarships.