AP Names Skoloff As Salt Lake City Correspondent

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) - Brian Skoloff, an AP reporter covering the aftermath of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, has been named Salt Lake City administrative correspondent for The Associated Press.

The appointment was announced Thursday by West Region Editor Traci Carl and Nevada-Utah News Editor Tom Tait.

In Salt Lake City, Skoloff will lead the bureau and cover environmental issues.

"We're very pleased to get a veteran AP journalist like Skoloff to help us cover Utah and the Rockies. Utah is a busy news state that keeps us hopping, and I'm certain Skoloff will rise to the challenge," said Jim Clarke, the AP's bureau chief for Utah.

For the past year, Skoloff has lived in Mississippi and been a lead journalist covering the damage done by BP's oil well blowout off Louisiana.

Skoloff joined AP in 2000 in Arkansas, covering state politics and general assignment. From there, he went on to work as the correspondent in Fresno in 2003. After a stint as the day supervisor in San Francisco, Skoloff moved to Florida in 2006 as the correspondent/environment writer based in West Palm Beach. Skoloff has distinguished himself on many big stories, including the Fort Hood shooting, Hurricane Katrina and the Scott Peterson murder trial, among others.

In 2002 he was awarded APME's John L. Dougherty Award, which is given to AP reporters for excellence in the early stages of their careers. His work also has been honored by the Dallas Press Club, the Atlanta Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists and the Scripps Howard Foundation.

Before joining AP, he was a news-feature writer at The Desert Sun in Palm Springs, Calif.

Tait, who was working at the newspaper and hired Skoloff, said he was impressed with his persistence.

"He was obviously talented, but what convinced me was his obvious enthusiasm," Tait said. "He was hungry to be a reporter. He kept coming back and coming back until he got the job. I knew he would be successful."

Skoloff has a well-developed expertise in environmental issues and is an accomplished video journalist.

He graduated from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.