McCarthy named senior news editor for WSJ in EMEA

Thorold Barker, who oversees the Wall Street Journal’s coverage in Europe, the Middle East and Asia, sent out the following announcement on Wednesday:

I am delighted to announce the appointment of Grainne McCarthy as Senior News Editor for Europe, Middle East and Africa. In her new role, Grainne will lead coverage across the region, working closely with the bureau chiefs, as well as senior editors in London and New York.

Grainne is ideally suited for this new challenge after five action-packed years as Paris bureau chief. She started there in May 2011, the day before Dominique Strauss-Kahn was arrested on the tarmac at JFK, on his way back to France. Since then, she has led coverage of countless important stories, from the teetering finances of French banks during the eurozone crisis, to the rise of the National Front, the clash between Europe and big tech and the deliberate crash of a German wings plane into the Alps. Most memorable, of course, was the bureau’s tireless and incisive coverage of last year’s terror attacks that rocked Paris to its core and heralded a new era of terror in Europe.

Prior to bringing her energy and leadership to Paris, Grainne was chief global markets editor for WSJ.com and Dow Jones Newswires in New York. At the Newswires, she also worked as a reporter in Brussels, Indonesia bureau chief, assistant managing editor for capital markets and managing editor for energy news.

A native of West Cork, she has a master’s degree in Journalism from Dublin City University and a bachelor’s degree in European Studies from the University of Limerick. She completed a one-year Knight-Bagehot fellowship at Columbia University in 2001.

Grainne will report to me and will move to London in July, potentially into the thick of yet another dramatic story if Britain votes to leave the EU. Please join me in congratulating her on her well-deserved promotion.