Khalid Al-Matrafi was recently appointed as director of Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper in Saudi Arabia. Before his new position, he served as regional director of Al Arabiya news in the Kingdom from 2003 to 2015. Al-Matrafi worked as deputy editor in chief and Jeddah office manager for Al-Watan newspaper from 1999 to 2003. He also worked as managing editor (domestic affairs) of Al-Madinah newspaper from 1995 to 1999. Al-Matrafi was the office manager of Al-Madinah’s Riyadh office between 1994 and 1995, and before that served as full-time editor and office manager for the same newspaper’s Makkah office. Al-Matrafi is well versed in establishing media entities, leadership performance, management, staffing, coordination, coaching, developing standards, financial planning and strategy, process improvement and decision-making. He said that “professionalism is the foundation upon which any journalistic work relies and is based. It is the main pillar upon which one can perform the mission of journalism with accuracy, objectivity and integrity.” He earned a bachelor’s degree in media from Umm Al-Qura University, Makkah. Al-Matrafi also completed media courses in Washington, US, in 1999. He completed a mass communication program in 2006, and a video and backpack journalism course at Al Arabiya in 2008.