Lauren McCullough named to lead AP social networking efforts

McCullough named to social network role at AP

NEW YORK — Lauren McCullough, who has led The Associated Press’ efforts to engage social networks, has been promoted to manager of Social Networks and News Engagement at the new AP Nerve Center.

The appointment was announced Wednesday by Executive Editor Kathleen Carroll.

McCullough will head the Social Network Center, one of four components of the new headquarters center in New York. She will direct the work of editors there and around the company in pursuing journalistic material from social networks, promoting AP’s presence and content on social networks, and providing feedback to news managers on topics of high interest on social networks.

McCullough also will continue a lead role setting standards and practices related to social networks, reporting to Managing Editor Lou Ferrara.

“Lauren brings experience in social networking across formats that will enable the AP to grow in this new frontier of journalism. She understands the value of newsgathering within the social networks, as well as the need to have a voice within them,” Ferrara said.

McCullough, 27, most recently helped to lead efforts on the Sonia Sotomayor Supreme Court confirmation hearings blog and the Copenhagen Climate Conference blog, two key experiments AP has conducted in the area of social networks.

McCullough joined the AP in 2006 as an online editor. In 2007, she was instrumental in AP’s experiment with the citizen journalism site NowPublic.com.

In 2008, she won the Associated Press Managing Editors Association’s John L. Dougherty Award for excellence by a young AP staffer.

Before joining AP, McCullough was an assistant news manager with Newsday.com in Melville, N.Y. She began her career as a copy editor with The Post-Star in Glens Falls, N.Y.

She holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Hofstra University.