An update on Mr. Evans

I’ve been getting requests to find out what’s happening with Tommy Evans these days, and one of my CNN sources was kind enough to give me some insight into what he’s been up to lately.

While Michael is now based in New York and officially working for CNN Domestic, Tommy is based out of London and is still with International. (So when Michael is working on that side of the planet, Tommy goes with him; when Michael covers Mexico, he is assigned a producer from this hemisphere.)

Meanwhile, Tommy has been racking up the frequent-flyer miles. As best as my source can keep track, in 2009 he’s been to Pakistan three times, Afghanistan three times, and Iraq twice -- once to each with Michael, but also working with Fred Plietgen, Ivan Watson, Stan Grant, Nic Robertson, and of course most recently with Chris Lawrence in Afghanistan.

With the staffing cuts at the Baghdad bureau, there is no longer a regular rotation of bureau chiefs as in the past, but Tommy now fills that role not only there but also in Kabul and Islamabad whenever he goes to those bureaus.

When he’s home in London, he has also been working with some freelancers on special projects for CNN, like Nima Elbagir's Somalia stories and Farai Sevenzo's Liberia pieces.

So it would seem that Tommy has more than enough work to stay busy (and out of trouble?) for awhile. And hopefully we'll be seeing more of him soon -- there's always time for a few BackStory pieces, right? And maybe someday he'll write a book about all the crazy stuff 'his' reporters got into over the years? Oh, the blackmail stories he must know....!