MUMBAI: Responding to the new realities of a post 9/11 world CNN in the US has created the America Bureau. The Washington, D.C.-based unit will combine the network's Justice Department, homeland security and national security beats.

Through this joining of the three beats, CNN's America Bureau will strategically integrate sources, information and contacts to pursue short-term investigations, piecing together comprehensive news stories to examine the state of security in the US. CNN's Justice Department correspondent Kelli Arena, national security correspondent David Ensor and homeland security correspondent Jeanne Meserve will become correspondents for the America Bureau. They will share information and running reports through the department as a central clearing house for all security-related news. The correspondents will continue to report within their own fields of expertise.

As a part of the America Bureau, John McLaughlin, who served as acting CIA director in the Bush administration last year will offer exclusive analysis for CNN about security issues. Reports will also feature insight from other leading experts in the security field including Clark Kent Ervin, former inspector general for the US Homeland Security Department, and Richard A. Falkenrath, former White House deputy homeland security adviser.

CNN US VP news and production and Washington, D.C., bureau chief David Bohrman says, "CNN is fundamentally changing the way we gather and report security news. As government agencies strive to become more interconnected and open to information sharing, so, too, will our Justice Department, national security and homeland security beats. It allows us to use our award-winning journalists and newsgathering capabilities more strategically, putting together more comprehensive stories with more substantial background information."

Shirley Hung will serve as executive producer for the America Bureau. Hung has been with CNN for ten years, most recently serving as a senior producer in CNN's Washington newsroom, where she supervised the bureau's editorial output and oversaw story development.