NABJ Congratulates Hollis R. Towns on being Named President of APME

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The National Association of Black Journalists congratulates Hollis R. Towns on his election as president of the Associated Press Managing Editors (APME). Towns was elected last week at the group's annual conference in St. Petersburg, Fla.

"I'm thrilled to be elected president of an organization with such a rich history and bright future,” said Towns, in an APME press release. "I plan to build on the successes of the past year by growing the membership, extending our reach and launching an important national reporting project with the Associated Press.”

Towns began his career at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution as a reporter. He became executive editor at the Cincinnati Enquirer before being named editor at the Asbury Park Press in New Jersey, which is owned by the Gannett Company.

"Our members continue to soar,” said NABJ President Kathy Times. "We are proud of Hollis for his achievement. We know he will lead APME well and continue its good work of fostering journalism excellence and providing the training and development of editors who will run multimedia newsrooms.”

APME is an association of editors at AP’s 1,500 member newspapers in the U.S. and Canada. The organization supports training and development of editors in a changing media landscape, as well as initiatives in online credibility and diversity.

"Towns’ new leadership role is recognition by his peers of his talents,” said NABJ Vice President-Print Deirdre M. Childress. "When Towns became the editor of the North Jersey paper, he pledged to make local news, investigative stories and the website his top priorities. These remain the prongs of our best journalism, and I have no doubt Towns will infuse APME with strong goals for sustaining our print and digital industry.”

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