Yesterday we brought you the Associated Press' new DC bureau reporting team. Today, we've obtained an internal memo from AP's Ron Fournier concerning the wire service's regional beat structure.

Join us after the jump...

From: Fournier, Ron
Sent: Thursday, December 04, 2008 12:04 PM

Colleagues, For those of you who missed today's staff meeting, I am pleased to announce the new regional beat structure and assignments. Each reporter will now report to both the Washington bureau and their regional hub (rather than individual state bureaus). The idea is to have regional reporters actually cover regions -- and big issues. Please note that along with their state assignments, each regional reporter is assigned to a specific beat or beats. Sam Hananel, for example, is not just the East's labor writer; he's the AP's labor writer. Food, demographics, immigration and other important national beats will now be driven out of the team on the 6th floor. Another example: Joan Lowy, a former Washington reporter for the Rocky Mountain News who covers transportation for us, will continue working that beat as part of her new duties on the West team. Attached is the complete list of 2009 WDC beat assignments, including these regionals:

SOUTH Ben Evans. Southern politics, race relations. GA, FL, AL, LA, MS Mary Clare Jalonick. Food and farm, Indian affairs. NC, SC, TN, KY Fred Frommer. Sports lobbying, FEMA/disaster prep. WV, VA, MD, DE EAST Kimberly Hefling. Military, veteran's affairs. PA, NJ, NY Sam Hananel. Labor. OH, NH, VT, ME Andrew Miga. Energy. MA, CT, RI

CENTRAL Dennis Conrad. Economy, Great Lakes issues. IL, IN, MN, WI Suzanne Gamboa. Immigration, Latino politics. TX, AR, OK, KS, MO Ken Thomas. Autos. MI, NE, IA, ND, SD WEST Matt Daly. Environment, high tech/green technology. OR, WA, MT, WY, ID Joan Lowy. Transportation, mining. CO, NM, AZ, UT Erica Werner. Demographics, growth and infrastructure. CA, AL, HI, NV

Best, Ron