Former ‘TAJ reporter to CNN

A former reporter and bureau chief for WTAJ-TV (10) has been named CNN’s correspondent in Pakistan.

Reza “Ray” Sayah was born in Iran and is fluent in English, Farsi and French. A 12-year broadcast veteran, he holds a bachelor’s degree in communications from Pepperdine University and a master’s from the University of Missouri.

Sayah joined WTAJ in 1996 after a stint at KOMU-TV in Columbia, Mo., and later worked at WTVR-TV in Richmond, Va. Since 2000, he has been an investigative reporter at WXYZ-TV, Detroit, where he’s recently been reporting on a scandal involving the city’s mayor.

In a prepared statement, a CNN executive calls Sayah’s hiring part of one of the network’s biggest expansion programs in 27 years.