Sky News correspondent Sam Kiley joins CNN in Abu Dhabi

Olivia Cuthbert
Sam Kiley joins CNN from Sky News. (Screengrab)

LONDON: CNN has hired Sky News journalist Sam Kiley as senior international correspondent based out of its Middle East office in Abu Dhabi.
Kiley, whose journalistic career spans more than three decades, has worked at the BBC, America’s PBS Frontline program and Sky News, first as the network’s defense and security editor, then as Middle East correspondent in Jerusalem, and latterly as foreign affairs editor.
“CNN is the world’s most watched news network with an unmatched presence on every major global story. I have grown up as a journalist alongside CNN teams from Somalia to Sarajevo and Mosul. I have always admired them and am proud to be joining my friends at the network at this exciting, and unpredictable, time,” said Kiley.
Kiley’s long-standing experience covering Middle East affairs includes a stint as Middle East bureau chief for The Times before moving to the London Evening Standard newspaper in 2001 to report on the wars in Afghanistan and the Israel-Palestinian conflict.
He then went on to present “Truth and Lies in Baghdad” for Channel 4 television’s current affairs series “Dispatches,” before joining the network full time. While covering the invasion of Iraq in 2003, Kiley was kidnapped along with his cameraman and team, narrowly avoiding execution.
The only journalist to have spent an entire tour with British troops fighting in Helmand, Kiley recounted the six-month deployment in his 2009 book, “Desperate Glory,” which was named an Economist Book of the Year.
“Sam is a uniquely experienced correspondent, with an outstanding record of investigative reporting. He has managed bureau, broken major stories and delivered powerful, important documentaries throughout an extraordinary career. He is a formidable addition to our international news gathering operation,” said Deborah Rayner, SVP of international newsgathering for TV & Digital at CNN International.
Becky Anderson, managing editor of CNN Abu Dhabi, said: “We are thrilled to be welcoming Sam to Abu Dhabi. He has a remarkable portfolio of achievements under his belt and will be a fantastic asset to our reporting across this region.”