Defense News Establishes a Middle East Bureau
Defense News, the premier weekly global source for the news and analysis of politics, business and technology of defense is establishing a news bureau in the Middle East and naming veteran defense journalist Riad Kahwaji as bureau chief.
Executive Editor Rick Barnard said, “Riad Kahwaji has more than a decade of experience in covering Middle East affairs. “This new venture for Defense News and DefenseNews.com strengthens our coverage and helps us deliver added value to our readers each week.”
Kahwaji has been a journalist and defense analyst for 14 years. He was a Middle East correspondent for Jane’s Defense Weekly and before that, the deputy assignment editor to the London-based Middle East Broadcasting Center television network, and a reporter and producer for the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) World service.
Kahwaji will be based in the Dubai Media City, UAE. “It is an honor to be the first Middle East bureau chief for Defense News and DefenseNews.com,” Kahwaji said. “The paper is a prestigious weekly regarded by defense experts everywhere as the best there is in coverage of the business and political issues that affect defense planning and the defense marketplace.”
A native of Lebanon, Kahwaji is fluent in Arabic, and is a contributor to pan-Arab daily Al-Hayat. Kahwaji holds a master’s degree in War Studies from King’s College, the University of London.
“The creation of a permanent bureau in the Middle East reflects our determination to boost our coverage of this important region,” said Elaine Howard, president of Army Times Publishing Co., Defense News’ corporate parent. “The defense strategies and requirements of Middle East nations are of ever-increasing importance to our readers.”
Defense News is published by Army Times Publishing Company, a subsidiary of Gannett Co., Inc. Gannett is an international news and information company that publishes 97 daily newspapers in the USA, including USA TODAY, the nation’s largest-selling daily newspaper.
The company also owns in excess of 300 non-daily publications in the USA and USA WEEKEND, a weekly newspaper magazine. In the United Kingdom, Gannett subsidiary Newsquest plc publishes nearly 300 titles, including 15 daily newspapers.
Gannett also operates 22 television stations in the United States and is an Internet leader with sites sponsored by most of its TV stations and newspapers including USA TODAY.com, one of the most popular news sites on the web. Information obtained from this press release must be attributed in full to Defense News.