WSJ overhauls Afghanistan coverage

TALKING BIZ NEWS EXCLUSIVE

Wall Street Journal deputy managing editor Rebecca Blumenstein sent out the following announcement on Friday afternoon:

We are delighted to announce several moves to strengthen our Afghanistan coverage as we move into a new and important stage of the war.

Yaroslav Trofimov will become Afghanistan Editor. Yaro has been covering Afghanistan with great distinction in the past two years and in his new role will be responsible for our coverage going forward, setting priorities, managing reporters, editing stories, and coordinating with the Washington bureau. He will also continue to report. Yaro will continue to work closely with South Asia Bureau Chief Paul Beckett.

Dion Nissenbaum, who has been covering Afghanistan for McClatchy, has joined the paper as a staff reporter based in Kabul. Dion will be responsible for leading our Afghan coverage, ensuring that the groundbreaking work done by Yaro and Matt Rosenberg continues into 2011 and beyond.

Dion will work with Maria Abi-Habib, who has been reporting from Kabul for us since May.

Matt Rosenberg will continue with his excellent coverage of Afghanistan through the first half of this year, after which he will transition into a new role in the Washington bureau. In his new role, Matt will keep playing an important part in our Afghan coverage by using his deep knowledge and expertise on the region to inform policymaking, national security and anti-terrorism stories in DC.

Please join us in congratulating all in their new roles.