Olivier Knox (Yahoo News)
Yahoo News has hired Olivier Knox, Congressional correspondent for Agence France-Press, to be its White House correspondent--the first in Yahoo's 16-year history.
Knox--who has spent more than a decade with AFP covering politics, including eight years covering the White House--starts on Feb. 13. He will be based in Washington and report to politics editor Chris Suellentrop, who joined Yahoo from the New York Times magazine last year.
"I am thrilled to be joining the team covering politics at Yahoo News," Knox said, "and truly honored to serve as the first White House correspondent. It's a great opportunity."
A graduate of John's Hopkins' School of Advanced International Studies, Knox covered the impeachment proceedings against Bill Clinton for AFP beginning in 1998. He covered Al Gore's presidential campaign for the news service, moved to the White House beat in December 2000 and served in that position until the inauguration of Barack Obama in 2009. (He was in the second row at the infamous 2008 Baghdad press conference when an an Iraqi TV journalist hurled a pair of shoes at President George W. Bush.) Most recently, Knox has been AFP's Congress/politics correspondent.
His hire is the latest in a series of moves by Yahoo designed to beef up its original content for an audience of 85.5 million unique monthly visitors.
Last fall, the news division made a number of key hires: Washington D.C. bureau chief David Chalian, managing editor Hillary Frey, head of strategy and development Guy Vidra , and executive producer (elections) Steve Chaggaris. Veteran journalist Walter Shapiro also recently signed on as a contributing writer to cover the 2012 campaign.
Other popular Yahoo! News stories:
• Fox News on top: Cable net celebrates ten years at #1 in ratings
• Jagger schmoozes with media elite, including NYT's Abramson, at Davos
• Ron Paul action figures! The best, worst and weirdest swag of the 2012 campaign