The Independent has appointed Borzou Daragahi in the new role of international correspondent to bolster the title’s “ambitious expansion” of overseas staff under editor Christian Broughton.
Broughton is working to rebuild the Independent’s international team after the title turned digital-only in 2016, and has described it as a “dream project”. He hired former Times reporter Bel Trew as Middle East correspondent, based in Jerusalem, in July this year.
Daragahi has been a Pulitzer Prize finalist three times for his coverage of Iraq and Iran in 2005, 2007 and 2010, twice with the Los Angeles Times and once with New Jersey’s The Star-Ledger.
He has also previously worked for the Financial Times, Buzzfeed News, and Associated Press and is a senior, non-resident fellow at Washington think tank the Snowcroft Centre for Strategy at the Atlantic Council.
Daragahi will be based in Istanbul, reporting throughout the region and beyond.
Broughton said: “Turkey is in the midst of a fascinating period in its history and geographically it finds itself at the centre of many key world events. To have a proven, full-time reporter of Borzou’s expertise based in Istanbul couldn’t be better.”
After a period of “significant expansion” in the UK and overseas, the Independent now has staff reporters based in Moscow, Brussels, Beirut, Istanbul, Delhi and in locations across the US, where the title’s readership is now equal to its UK audience.
Said Broughton: “I am extremely pleased to welcome a journalist of Borzou’s experience and calibre to the team.
“The Independent has been famous for its top-class coverage of the biggest global stories since it was established in 1986. Ensuring that continues through the work of journalists like Borzou is vital to our future.
“The prospect of Borzou joining the outstanding foreign reporting talents already at The Independent, including Bel, Robert Fisk, Patrick Cockburn, Oliver Carroll, and Kim Sengupta is truly exciting, both for the journalists here and I hope for our readers.”
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