Reuters losing two journalists in Brazil

Kieran Murray, news editor for Latin America and the Caribbean at Reuters, sent out the following announcement on Thursday morning:

I regret to announce that Todd Benson and Brian Winter, who have led a great news file out of Brazil in the last few years, are both leaving Reuters in June.

Todd is taking a senior job at Google in Brazil and Brian is joining the Council of the Americas in New York as its vice-president.

Todd joined Reuters in Brazil in 2002 and has been bureau chief there for the last six years, showing impressive journalism and leadership skills as he restructured the bureau, made some great hires and steadily improved all areas of coverage. He has also been an excellent ambassador for Reuters with customers and often appears on Brazilian TV news shows.

Brian worked for us in Argentina and Mexico in 2000-2005, left for a few years to write books, and rejoined in 2010 to take the job of chief correspondent in Brazil. His skillful reporting and source-building, fascination with policy issues and elegant writing quickly made him a real authority on Brazil.

Working together, they led a transformation of our file, turning it into a model of quick and smart spot news coverage and ambitious, enterprising journalism.

We will post both jobs quickly and aim to continue that transformation.

For now, though, our sincere thanks and a tip of the hat to two superb journalists and colleagues.