Media

A changing of the guard at the AP

by Dan Kennedy

A major transition is under way at the Boston bureau of the Associated Press, whose alumni include such notables as CNN's John King and the Washington Post's Ceci Connolly. In the past several weeks, veteran bureau chief Mike Short has retired, and long-time news editor Mike Bezdek has quit to join an Internet start-up company. Short's replacement has already reported for duty, but there's no indication yet as to who will direct the bureau's news coverage.

APcovers the State House and the region out of its Boston bureau. APreports are a staple of medium- and smaller-size newspapers. Subscribers include some 40 daily newspapers, as well as the state's major television and radio stations.

The new bureau chief is Ed Bell, who began work this Monday after several years in Washington as the AP's director of television membership. Bell is no stranger to the Boston area -- he began his career at the Salem Evening News and has done stints as news director for WBZ Radio, WHDH Radio (which no longer exists), and WNEV-TV (Channel 7's call letters under previous ownership).

"I saw an opening and a chance to come home," says Bell. "And I have to tell you, I'm just thrilled to be here."

Though the very phrase "wire service" conjures up images of Cary Grant and Rosalind Russell in His Girl Friday, Bell says the 150-year-old AP has repositioned itself as a content provider for all varieties of media. "The AP, I think, sits on the world's richest content," Bell says. "Making that content available to our members in whatever form they need it, be it newspapers, online, broadcast, or even cable -- this is a company that is cutting-edge."

The AP is a members' cooperative, and one of the bureau chief's prime jobs is to stroke the egos of suburban publishers and editors. Thus, filling the news editor's post is crucial. Thirty-nine reporters, editors, and photographers report to the news editor -- most of them at the AP's Boston headquarters, on High Street, but some at the State House, in Springfield, and in Providence as well. Bell says that he's looking for "a strong day-to-day news person," and that several internal candidates are being considered.

Mike Bezdek is something of a legend among current and former Boston staffers. Tough, and exceedingly unpopular with some of the troops, he nevertheless is credited with setting high standards. "It's a boot camp, but people learn a lot," says an insider who professes to have "mixed feelings" about Bezdek's departure.

Bezdek will be a principal in Getpress.com, a venture being started by public-relations executive Connie Hubbell. The idea is to use the Web to help companies that are too small to have their own public-relations departments, and to provide assistance in dealing with the media on such sticky issues as layoffs and work-force controversies. That may sound a little nebulous, but hey, it's a dot-com. When's the IPO?

"I left because somebody made me an offer I couldn't refuse," Bezdek says of his departure from AP. "It's great to be on the ground floor of something, not unlike the early days of television, I suppose." Bezdek also teaches part-time at Boston University, but guesses he'll have to put that on hold: "This is looking like 60 or 70 hours a week for a while."

As for his tough-guy reputation, Bezdek responds with an air of macho pride. "Yeah, I was demanding. I suppose I was a bit of the old school," he says. "But I think if you ask around, it paid off. Boston is generally conceded to be one of the best, if not the best, bureaus in the country."