It's expensive, complex and dangerous. But it's one of the most important things we do
I saw that repeatedly during my time as The Age's world editor in 2019 and 2020, when readers came to us for information on the Hong Kong riots and the struggle between democracy and Chinese Communist Party rule on the islands. They came to us for our coverage of the war in Syria, they came to us to find out what would happen when Britain split from the EU, and they came to us when a mysterious virus out of Wuhan rampaged across Italy.
This is why The Age and its sister publications invest so much in a first-class world news team, regular foreign excursions and the assignment of four of our top journalists to permanent overseas postings.
On that note, I must thank Rob Harris for a stellar three years as your European correspondent. Few will ever write a piece with the poignancy and insight he seems to be able to summon at will. It has been a privilege to be able to bring you his inimitable reporting. Yesterday's story, which he wrote for you from a bomb shelter in Ukraine, is a great example of his powerful storytelling ability. We look forward to him returning home and resuming his work on everything from federal politics to the Melbourne Cup.
And we welcome his replacement, David Crowe, to the posting. I don't need to convince any of you of Crowe's journalistic calibre. One of the country's finest reporters, you will be as well served by his work from Europe as you were during his time as our chief political correspondent in Canberra.
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In other parts of the world, Lisa Visentin in North Asia and Zach Hope in South-East Asia continue to impress. Hope's reporting on Myanmar in recent months has been excellent, and I highly recommend reading Visentin's colourful story from the Chinese border town of Manzhouli, which she likens to a Russian outpost.
Our foreign coverage is expensive, complicated and sometimes dangerous. Those facts are inescapable. Without your support and your subscription, it would be extremely difficult for us to maintain such comprehensive overseas coverage.
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