Dagmar Aalund, politics and economy editor, Europe, Middle East and Africa, at The Wall Street Journal, sent out the following staff announcement on Friday:
We’re very happy to announce the arrival of two new editors on the politics and economics desk in London: Matt Surman, Deputy Editor, Politics and Economics EMEA, and Craig Nelson, News Editor, Middle East and Africa. They are a vital part of our effort to get stories edited and up online more quickly during the European day and produce coverage to stand for all platforms.
Before joining The Wall Street Journal, Matt Surman worked for 10 years as an editor and reporter at the Associated Press — most recently as an editor on the Europe Desk in London, handling breaking news and enterprise stories from Europe, Central Asia and Africa. He started at the AP as a reporter in Berlin, and also worked in New York editing U.S. news for international readers. He was previously a reporter at the Los Angeles Times and the Press-Enterprise in Southern California. Raised in a military family, Matt moved frequently, but he considers the Seattle area home. He is a graduate of Yale University and has a masters in journalism from Columbia University.
Craig Nelson was previously foreign editor at the National in Abu Dhabi and has extensive experience as an editor and correspondent focusing on both the Middle East and Africa. He lived in Jerusalem, covering the region for five years for Cox Newspapers, including reporting on the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003 and the war in Lebanon in 2006. Before that, he was East Africa correspondent for the Associated Press in Nairobi. He was also Moscow correspondent for the Sydney (Australia) Morning Herald for two years. Craig will work closely with Middle East bureau chief Bill Spindle and Africa bureau chief Peter Wonacott in editing and shaping copy from the region. Born and raised in Minnesota, Craig is a graduate of Carleton College and attended Union Theological Seminary in New York.
Please give them a warm welcome.
