CBC News Editor-in-Chief Brodie Fenlon has confirmed previously-announced plans to shore up the public broadcaster’s international bureaus.
In a blog post Thursday, written ahead of CBC/Radio-Canada’s 90th birthday on Monday, Fenlon confirmed a new European bureau will be based in Berlin, alongside opening (or reopening) permanent bureaus in Beijing, Jerusalem, Mexico City, and Los Angeles. CBC’s expansion plans also include opening a bureau in Africa.
“We chose Germany because it is a key economic and political anchor of the European Union, and Canada’s sixth-largest merchandise trading partner,” said Fenlon. “The country’s ties to Canada have also been strengthened through recent agreements and promises to collaborate on critical minerals, AI, digital sovereignty, auto and battery manufacturing.”
Berlin joins established CBC News bureaus in London, Mumbai, New York and Washington, D.C., in addition to Radio-Canada Info bureaus in Istanbul, Paris, Taipei and Washington, where it shares space with CBC.
Fenlon wrote that while news teams from CBC and Radio-Canada travelled to 65 countries last year, “there is no replacement for having journalists permanently in place in different parts of the world.”
Initial hires under the expansion include new Beijing correspondent Lisa Xing, a senior reporter with CBC News in Toronto, who has previously covered the Ontario legislature and served on CBC Toronto’s investigative team. She’s been deployed to China on several occasions, including covering the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics.
Jorge Barrera has been named CBC’s permanent correspondent in Mexico City. The Venezuela-born journalist, who has been in Mexico on a temporary deployment for the last year, previously worked with CBC’s Investigative and Indigenous units. In addition to producing reports out of Mexico, he’s also filed stories on Cuba, Venezuela and Colombia.
Fenlon added that new correspondent and producer announcements are forthcoming for Jerusalem, Beijing and Los Angeles, along with a new correspondent in the existing Mumbai bureau.
