It looks as if the Arizona Daily Star is losing yet another one of its staffers — Brady McCombs, a reporter on the border and political beats, has taken a job with the Associated Press. The Weekly's Media Watch scribe John Schuster obtained this comment from McCombs:
"I will be the AP's Supervisory Correspondent in Salt Lake City, leading the bureau's breaking news and enterprise coverage of the state. I am sad to leave the Arizona Daily Star, but this is a great opportunity for me and my family. I am grateful to the Star for the opportunity they gave me and to my editors and colleagues for the support and guidance they have provided me since I arrived in February 2006. I have enjoyed my time in the desert immensely, learned a ton, and I will always have very fond memories of my time in Tucson."
Here's the AP's announcement, sent out this morning:
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — The Associated Press has named Brady McCombs, a border and political reporter for the Arizona Daily Star in Tucson, as its new correspondent in Salt Lake City.McCombs will serve as supervisory correspondent for the AP, reporting on breaking news and enterprise and directing the overall report for the cooperative in Utah. He has worked at the Arizona Daily Star since 2006, covering border and immigration issues and most recently politics ahead of the 2012 election.
McCombs, 33, has led several investigations in his time at the newspaper, including an in-depth project on deaths along the busiest stretch of the U.S.-Mexico border for immigrant and drug smuggling. He was named Journalist of the Year on three occasions by the Arizona Newspaper Association, in 2007, 2008 and 2011. He also was the recipient of the prestigious Virg Hill Arizona Journalist of the Year award by the Arizona Press Club in 2007.
"Brady is a talented reporter and writer with an eye for investigative stories, and the AP is proud to have a journalist of his caliber directing the Utah report," said Traci Carl, AP's director of news for the Western U.S.
McCombs graduated with a journalism degree from the University of Colorado at Boulder and served in the U.S. Peace Corps in Costa Rica for three years before becoming a reporter in Greeley, Colo., and then Tucson.
McCombs is just the latest in a line of departures from the Daily Star, alongside the likes of reporters Josh Brodesky and Rob O'Dell, both now with the Arizona Republic; and managing editor Teri Hayt, who took a job with GateHouse Media.
