Octavia Nasr is a political journalist who mainly covers Middle Eastern affairs. She was CNN’s Senior Editor of Mideast affairs for more than 20 years.

Nasr was born in Lebanon, and began her career as a war correspondent in the country. She then moved to CNN, where she served as an on-air and off-air expert for more than two decades. She was regarded as the authoritative voice on Middle Eastern affairs and spent many years coordinating the Arab Desk’s news coverage. She ran a weekly Mideast Voices segment and wrote numerous blogs, providing analysis and insight that was rarely seen on other American news networks. It’s no surprise that she has won numerous awards for her groundbreaking work, including the Edward R Murrow for Continuing Coverage of the 2006 war in Lebanon and the Overseas Press Club Award for CNN’s post 9-11 coverage. Since leaving CNN in 2010, Nasr has set up her own firm, Bridges Media Consulting, which helps companies to use social media networks more effectively. She is regarded as a pioneer in the field, as one of the first people to integrate social media more effectively and efficiently into traditional media outlets.

As well as her consulting, Nasr is now a prolific speaker at conferences and events, and a guest writer for online and print publications including Entrepreneur Europe and her own online blog.