Reuters names Szep its international affairs editor

The following announcement was made by Reuters deputy editor Paul Ingrassia and Washington bureau chief Marilyn Thompson:

Jason Szep, an award-winning Reuters veteran who has had postings in seven countries, will take on a new role as International Affairs Editor in our Washington bureau.  Reporting to Washington bureau chief Marilyn Thompson, Jason will have a remit to drive coverage of global diplomacy, geopolitics and trade.  He will focus on international stories with a strong Washington angle, the very stories that play to the strength of our extensive global bureau network.

To be more specific, Jason will run Washington teams covering foreign policy, defense, trade and the United Nations. He also will serve as the link between our Washington bureau and our global network of bureaus from Beijing to Brussels, Moscow to Madrid and Sao Paulo to San Francisco, furthering our pursuit of excellence on everything from breaking news to investigative projects.

Jason has special stature to fill this role.  He is a 23-year Reuters veteran who began his career as a fixed-income and economics reporter in Toronto followed by postings in Sydney, Hong Kong, Singapore, Tokyo, Boston and Bangkok. He was most recently Southeast Asia Bureau Chief, based in Bangkok, where he oversaw coverage of the region’s 10 countries.

He had previously served as Thailand & Indochina Bureau Chief, and before that Bureau Chief in his native Boston.  There he became the first Reuters journalist to win the Society of Professional Journalists’ Sigma Delta Chi award, recognizing a ground-breaking series on Mormonism in America. While in Bangkok, he was co-winner of a Society of Publishers in Asia Award, Asia’s top journalism contest, for a series on Myanmar. His work there, with colleagues, chronicled the opening of Myanmar and the plight of the nation’s  Rohingya  Muslim minority. Jason also led a winning team last year in the Reuters Journalist of the Year awards.

Please join us in congratulating Jason and wishing him the very best in his new role.