Michael Giarrusso - 2008 Fellow

MICHAEL GIARRUSSO
Director of State News/South
The Associated Press

Michael Giarrusso is a regional news director for the Associated Press, overseeing news operations in the Southern United States. He has been with the AP since graduating from the University of Georgia’s Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication in 1992. He started as an intern and reporter in the Atlanta bureau before moving to Pennsylvania as a correspondent covering sports and news in the central part of the state. In 1996, he became an editor on the AP’s National desk before returning to Atlanta in 2003. Giarrusso has served as an editor at political conventions, the Olympics, and major news events, including the disputed 2000 presidential election and Hurricane Katrina. A member of the Asian American Journalists Association, Giarrusso helps manage the AP’s internship program and has a strong role in recruiting for the news operation. In 2000, the Grady College awarded Giarrusso the John E. Drewry award for early career achievement in journalism.