Even by Brussels journalists’ restless standards, job-hopping seems to have reached a head-spinning level.
This could be due to the start of the new EU mandate. New term, new job. But it could also be due to the hot competition for talent. Either way, keeping pace with all the changes is quite a challenge. So do forgive us if we’ve missed anything or anyone!
The position everyone has been watching – that of Financial Times tech and competition correspondent Javier Espinoza, whose next move remains a mystery – looks set to be filled by POLITICO’s chief EU correspondent, Barbara Moens, in January. This will be the second time the FT has fished in POLITICO’s pond, having hired Paola Tamma to cover financial services nearly a year ago. (Flattering for POLITICO, who poached editor in chief Jamil Anderlini from the FT in Asia, just over three years ago?)
POLITICO crowed back in July about snatching Max Griera from Euractiv to cover EU politics. But then Euractiv has lured Matthew Karnitshnig, POLITICO’s Berlin-based chief Europe correspondent, to be editor-in-chief from January as it rebuilds the editorial team after a recent exodus and goes behind a paywall. In August, Owen Morgan joined Euractiv as news editor from the City of London where he was a policy associate after stint as a speech writer at the European Commission. And Thomas Mangin, who wrote for La Lettre and Agence Europe, has gone to Euractiv as health reporter.
POLITICO lost Mark Scott to the Atlantic Council in August, the same month that AI reporter Gian Volpicelli joined Bloomberg as a tech reporter. (Pieter Haeck, already in the tech team, is pivoting to focus on AI.) Jakob Hanke Vela, a sometime Brussels Playbook author, will move to Handelsblatt as Brussels bureau chief from January. Among other POLITICO exits, Clothilde Goujard has left the tech team to freelance in Jordan, and competition reporter Edith Hancock will also depart soon for Dow Jones. (POLITICO may be competing with MLex for a new competition correspondent.) But then POLITICO did hire Sam Clark from MLex as a cybersecurity reporter in September.
MLex may be building one of the bigger tech teams in Brussels. Luca Bertuzzi joined from Euractiv as senior AI correspondent in June after much speculation as to where he would land, followed by Júlia Tar, who is data privacy and security reporter as of October. MLex had already hired Inbar Preiss as senior intellectual property correspondent in August from DL News where she used to be regulatory correspondent.
The list goes on. Lili Bayer joined Reuters as European security correspondent this month after a year at The Guardian and five years at POLITICO. Beatriz Navarro has left La Vanguardia after 20 years as a correspondent, most recently in Brussels, with Anna Buj Cussó taking her place.
Meanwhile, Euronews has been in the news for its unceremonious firing of CEO Guillaume Dubois for undisclosed reasons. Claus Strunz from the Axel Springer group, which owns POLITICO, has taken over immediately as CEO and editorial director. All Brussels eyes are now watching Euronews for any change in editorial direction.
Also under scrutiny is the pending foray of French-language outlet Contexte into the anglophone world. What form will this take and when? But first they’re doing their due diligence. Meanwhile, Sophie Petitjean moved from the Contexte tech team to specialist outlet Tax Notes.
From across the Channel, London-based reporter Jenny Gross has been babysitting the bureau chief role at the New York Times until Jeanna Smialek, who has been covering the Federal Reserve, arrives in January. Matina Stevis-Gridneff held the role until becoming Canada bureau chief in August. And Ellen Francis has been Brussels Correspondent for the Washington Post since the summer.
Watch this space for more updates!
Victoria Main, Chief Business Development Officer