Fighting Fake News: Ryan Riegg ’96

When Ryan Riegg ’96 penned his first article last December, “Why Saudi Arabia may be preparing for war,” it was picked up by The Hill, where it quickly became the most popular article on the site. His second article, “Saudi’s religious restrictions cost it billions per year,” came out in January and made the front page of VOX, and his third piece, “What is Saudi going to do with its arms buildup?” made the front page of Newsweek.com in March. With this kind of traction, you might think that Ryan is a news correspondent for a major outlet, but that is not the case.

 

Ryan is a director of Aion Associates, a company that provides consulting services to individuals and companies interested in developing markets in the Middle East, North Africa, and the Balkans. Based in the Balkans, Ryan was frustrated with the quality of Western news outlet coverage of the Middle East and decided to start a writers’ group called Lawyerence of Arabia, where people with insider knowledge of the Middle East and North Africa could share their honest experiences and opinions. Fighting the tide of “fake news” and biased coverage, Ryan hopes that the articles produced by his group will be a source for balanced and informed news about the region. For more of Ryan’s writing, visit the Lawyerence of Arabia Facebook page at Facebook.com/lawyerence.