Phew. Anna Fifield is here to help us make sense of the world.

Former Washington Post journalist Anna Fifield is taking the reins of The Spinoff’s World Bulletin newsletter.

Fifield, who has been The Washington Post’s Asia-Pacific editor and Beijing bureau chief, as well as the editor of Wellington paper The Post, will write her first newsletter on Thursday.

The diplomatic way to describe the world right now is “unpredictable and complex”. An alternative description is “hellscape”.  

Fifield said she was keen to write the World Bulletin in these volatile times because it was more important than ever for New Zealanders to understand the role even small countries can play in the world.

The Spinoff’s editor Veronica Schmidt said if anyone could make the world make sense right now it was Fifield.  

“Anna is one of New Zealand’s best journalists and has huge amounts of experience reporting  complex international stories. I’m super pleased she’s joining us.”

Fifield said she was delighted to take on the new role. “I have been an avid reader of The Spinoff for years so I’m thrilled to be joining the team and looking forward to connecting with readers through a weekly email on global affairs.”

Fifield is the author of the 2019 book The Great Successor, about Kim Jong Un, and spent more than 20 years as a foreign correspondent for the Washington Post and the Financial Times, reporting from across Asia, the Middle East and the United States.

She was also a fellow at Harvard University’s Nieman Foundation for Journalism, studying how change happens in closed societies.

Catherine McGregor, the current World Bulletin writer, will continue to write the daily newsletter The Bulletin.

The World Bulletin is sent every Thursday. It is only available to members of The Spinoff. 

To become a Spinoff member and receive The World Bulletin, go here: The Spinoff members.