CNN said it’s planning its biggest expansion of international newsgathering resources in its history, including a new regional hub in the United Arab Erimates, a digital production unit in London and new operations in Afghanistan, Belgium, India, Kenya, Malaysia, Nigeria, the Philippines, Poland and Vietnam.
The Atlanta-based news network – facing stronger international news competition at home from BBC America and even year-old Al Jazeera English – said it also would make major investments in CNN’s International Newsource and CNN’s in-house wire operations.
It also plans to appoint two new correspondents in the Johannesburg bureau and add an additional correspondent each in London and Istanbul bureaus. Staffing is being increased at CNN’s Asia Pacific newsgathering hub in Hong Kong, and the network plans to assign additional correspondents in Beijing, Jakarta and Pakistan.
CNN is also revitalizing its Tokyo bureau to encompass additional reporting duties in South Korea to work within the current structure, it said.
The digital production unit, primarily based in London with additional staffing in Hong Kong and Atlanta, will produce and feed the rapidly growing number of new platforms that CNN services globally. This team will work alongside the television operation and will be responsible for providing content for CNN International, CNNArabic.com, CNNMobile and new CNN services on TV-to-broadband sites.
In Mexico, CNN en Español will hire an anchor and correspondent and an additional editor working from the Mexico City newsgathering bureau and production center. CNN en Español also will add to its editorial team in Atlanta to better service the increased volume of affiliate and stringer content and the development of new digital services.
“This is all about owning more content; these new resources will have a huge impact across all of CNN’s networks and platforms,” Tony Maddox, executive VP and managing director of CNN International, said in a release. “Owning the content we broadcast, publish and make available to affiliates and other platforms is the backbone of this business. This multi-million dollar investment in staff and resources bolster our world-class, award-winning journalism as well as give us the power to move swiftly into developing new business models.”
