Griff Witte to become Berlin Bureau Chief

From Foreign Editor Douglas Jehl and Foreign Deputy Editor Mary Beth Sheridan:

We’re delighted to announce that Griff Witte will become Berlin bureau chief, beginning next summer.

As London bureau chief since 2013, Griff has already gained mastery in writing about the powerful forces that are reshaping Europe. He has played a leading role in our coverage of terror attacks in Paris and Brussels; he has immersed himself in the European migrant crisis that washed ashore on the Greek islands; and he has covered both David Cameron’s biggest triumph (in winning reelection in 2015) and his biggest failure (in losing the Brexit vote and then the prime ministership over the course of just a few days). Griff has also shown uncanny mastery of video, a talent he has put to use not only on the home front (starring daughters Gillian, 2 1/2, and Eleanor, four weeks) but as an early adopter and role model in using Facebook Live.

The move to Berlin will inject Griff’s formidable talent into our coverage at the heart of Europe and add another layer to Griff’s deep base of knowledge. Since joining the Post in 2003, he has also served as bureau chief in Kabul, Islamabad, and Jerusalem; he was Middle East editor and then deputy foreign editor; and he spent a semester on a teaching fellowship at Princeton, his alma mater.

From his base in Berlin, Griff will work closely with Michael Birnbaum, bureau chief in the brand-new Brussels operation and with his own successor in London. Our Europe team also includes correspondents Jake McAuley in Paris and Karla Adam in London, as well as Rick Noack, who contributes to WorldViews from the U.K. and all over the Continent.

Griff will succeed Tony Faiola, who is leaving Berlin next summer to take over coverage of South America and the Caribbean. Griff will take up his new duties in early August 2017, after another 11 months covering Europe from the northwestern side of the widening English Channel.