MUMBAI: New appointments are the order of the day at CNN's Jerusalem center.
The organisation recently appointed Tom Fenton as the CNN's Jerusalem bureau chief. The second appointment is that of award winning CNN reporter John Vause as CNN's Jerusalem correspondent. Prior to the appointment, Vause was CNN International's North American correspondent, based in Atlanta.
Fenton who is currently the vice president/deputy managing editor of international news gathering at CNN's headquarters in Atlanta is one of the network's most experienced field producers and editorial managers, having joined CNN in 1986. Before moving to Atlanta, he was CNN's Frankfurt bureau chief covering international breaking news in Central Europe, Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
"Jerusalem continues to be one of CNN's most important news gathering operations and Tom is one of the most accomplished senior editors I know," said CNN International managing director Chris Cramer. "Tom's award winning coverage from Africa and his role in coordinating CNN's oversees coverage during 9/11, the Afghan and Iraq wars from CNN's Atlanta headquarters underscores his abilities and the importance CNN attaches to this appointment."
In his current role Fenton played a central role in coordinating CNN's coverage in Iraq and previous to that in Afghanistan. As one of CNN's senior field producers he has covered events in Israel and the Palestinian territories and across the Middle East as well as in Eastern and Central Europe. His coverage from Africa won the prestigious Edward R. Murrow and News and Documentary Emmy awards for his reports on the child soldiers in Sierra Leone.
He has also won awards for his coverage of the following: a 1992 Emmy for coverage of Somalia; a 1992 CableACE for coverage of Persian Gulf War; and a 1995 Overseas Press Club Award for CNN's 1995 Moneyline "Cuba" programs.
Fenton holds a bachelor's degree in English, magna cum laude, from Duke University.
On the other hand, John Vause who has been appointed CNN's Jerusalem correspondent also has a feather too many in his cap. Vause has won the prestigious Atlanta Press Club 'Journalist of the Year' award for his reporting from Israel and the Palestinian territories in 2003.
Since joining CNN, Vause has reported extensively from across the United States including New York in the aftermath of 11 September 2001. He also covered the war in Afghanistan and anchored CNN International's coverage of the war in Iraq from the network's studios in Kuwait City.
"This is a key appointment for CNN and for the team of correspondents based in the Middle East. John has shown an in-depth knowledge and tremendous skill when reporting from the region," said Cramer.
"Since joining CNN I've travelled and reported extensively in the US and from many other parts of the world. Some of the most stimulating and challenging assignments have been in Asia and the Middle East and the opportunity to be based permanently in Jerusalem was hard to resist," said Vause.
Before joining CNN in January 2001 Vause was the US bureau chief for Australia's Seven Network based in New York. Prior to that, Vause worked with Seven Network's 'Seven Nightly News' in Sydney and Nine Network in Melbourne as a senior correspondent respectively.
