Sr. Correspondent/Associate Editor

Job Announcement Sr. Correspondent/Associate Editor

The Middle East Broadcasting Networks is looking for a seasoned, authoritative and original journalist to enrich our coverage of the region. The ideal candidate will move seamlessly between current events, culture and history and produce distinctive work across all our platforms. This role involves creating and helming new products and contributing to our ongoing coverage. Done right, it will bring fresh perspectives to how the Middle East’s present, as well as future and past, are understood – both within the region and globally. It is one of the most senior roles in our growing newsroom, and we expect the senior correspondent and associate editor to be a prominent voice on the Middle East.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities:

The following tasks are considered essential functions of this position. Reasonable accommodation may be provided to enable individuals with disabilities to perform these functions:

• Develop and curate content that is timely, editorially aligned with MBN’s mission and strategic vision and spotlights the Middle East’s political, intellectual, cultural, and civic traditions, including literature, artistic production, and long-standing traditions of pluralism and coexistence.
• Provide historical and social context that compliments contemporary reporting, ensuring that current events are situated within deeper lived realities rather than isolated moments of crisis.
• Reintegrate overlooked regional inheritances into public discourse, highlighting both what has been lost and what remains possible for the region’s societies.
• Situate Israel within a broader Middle Eastern narrative, presenting it not solely through the lens of conflict but as a part of a complex, shared human and historical landscape.
• Challenge assumptions about secularism, constitutionalism, and the rule of law by tracing their indigenous roots in societies such as Iran and Turkey, countering the perception that these traditions are external or imposed imports.
• Engage diverse audiences by encouraging curiosity, complicating conventional assumptions, and fostering a more nuanced, historically grounded understanding of the region.
  
  

Other Duties:

Perform additional job-related duties and take on new responsibilities as needed based on organizational requirements and circumstances.

Qualifications and Requirements:

Required:

• Undergraduate/advanced degree or equivalent professional experience in journalism, Middle Eastern studies, history, political science, or a related field.
• Demonstrated record of high-quality journalistic writing, editing, or reporting on the Middle East or related subjects.
• Familiarity with cultural journalism, literary criticism, or arts coverage alongside other reporting.
• Deep knowledge of Middle Eastern history, culture, and politics, with the ability to synthesize complex material for general and specialist audiences.
• Exceptional writing and editorial judgement, with experience producing analysis as well as timely commentary.
• Fluency in English; reading knowledge of at least one Middle Eastern language (e.g. Arabic, Persian, Hebrew, or Turkish) strongly preferred.
  
  

Preferred experience:

• Prior experience working in or reporting from the Middle East.
• Editorial experience include commissioning writers or shaping thematic editorial initiatives.
  
  

Core Competencies:

• Narrative Reframing: Ability to challenge dominant media frames and construct alternative narratives grounded in history and lived experience.
• Historical Literacy: Strong command of regional histories and the ability to connect past developments to present-day realities.
• Analytical Rigor: Capacity to evaluate sources critically, trace intellectual lineages, and present nuanced interpretations.
• Cultural Sensitivity: Demonstrated respect for the diversity and internal complexity of Middle Eastern societies.
• Audience Engagement: Ability to communicate complex ideas clearly and compellingly to diverse readership/viewership/listenership.
• Strategic insight: Understands editorial mission and organizational goals
• Influence and partnership: Builds trust with editorial leadership & stakeholders
• Resilience: Ability to operate under pressure
• Communication: Practices clear, and timely communications
  
  

Impact & measures of success:

Success in this role is reflected in the development of journalistic content that does not merely report on the Middle East but actively reimagines how it is understood. This includes producing work that expands public curiosity, restores historical and cultural continuity, and contributes to a richer, more humane understanding of a region too often defined solely by its fractures

MBN is an equal opportunity employer committed to workforce diversity.