October 4, 2024

LETTER 373

A Rest, a Reset and a Thanks for the Banter

	By Damien Cave

A man sits on a sofa, feet on the coffee table, working on a laptop. Two clocks behind him show different times and are labeled "Sydney" and "New York."

Damien Cave at the Sydney office of The New York Times in October 2017. David Maurice Smith for The New York Times

The Australia Letter is a weekly newsletter from our Australia bureau. This week's issue is written by Damien Cave, who opened the Australia bureau in 2017.

Nearly eight years ago, as I opened a new Australia bureau for The New York Times, I tried to imagine what a weekly newsletter from and about the country would aim to do: add some insight and perspective to email inboxes; connect with new readers in a conversational tone; guide people to New York Times coverage they might have overlooked.

Now, after more than 350 newsletters, we've gathered an audience that seems to appreciate that particular mix. And we've done it over many years with an array of voices — from Americans like me to Sydneysiders to Melburnians, and New Zealanders too.

It's always been a bit of an experiment, and I don't by any means believe our work is done. But this is a moment of transition. I started writing this edition while above Australia, on a flight from Sydney to Ho Chi Minh City, where I am opening a new bureau for The Times in Vietnam. My replacement, Victoria Kim, a graceful writer who has already helped out with coverage on a couple of occasions, will be arriving soon.

As such, it seems an appropriate time to put this newsletter on pause. Consider it a journalistic version of that thing we have in American baseball known as a seventh-inning stretch: a moment when players and the fans stand up, pause, stretch and give some thought to what's come before and what shall follow.

There's probably some equivalent in cricket, and if there is, I have no doubt that someone in Australia will email to tell us, perhaps with a bit of humor or a suggestion for something to read or watch as part of our Aussie education. That is probably what I will miss the most as I move on and as this newsletter hibernates: The regular feedback, the guidance, the banter.

Starting a bureau in a new place requires conversation. Ideally, in my view, it should involve a constant give and take between correspondents and the culture we aim to inhabit, explore, critique and reveal in some deeper way to itself and to the world. This newsletter, and all the messages that followed each iteration, have helped make that a digital, weekly reality. You have helped keep us humble and informed. You, our readers, have made us laugh and learn. And hopefully, we have done a bit of the same.

I still remember the debates we had about whether it was right to refer to rugby league as rugby (I know, I know, it's different), and the lengthy emails that flood in after any reference we've made to racism in Australia — a clear sign of how raw and unresolved that issue remains for the country at large.

I also still fondly recall all the thoughtful suggestions that reached our inbox, for books, movies or places to travel or eat. In my experience, Australians tend to be a generous and rambunctious bunch. It's a big part of what led me to write a book about my family learning to be more Australian, and I leave with gratitude for all the times that someone threw their arm around me and dragged my gaze in a new direction.

With the exception of many politicians, who have yet to figure out what to do with The Times in this still too-secretive country, I feel like my time here has been filled with versions of: "Mate, over here, you'll want to see this."

I am thinking of the small-town community leader who passed me a little blue book with the mobile numbers of everyone who lived there; the old and young couples who stopped to check on me when I had a flat tire; the billionaire who pulled back the curtain on a few of his peers; the scholars who shared research from decades ago that are still relevant today.

I could list 100 more examples. But rather than go through all of those, or traipse through old newsletters or stories and offer up my favorites, let me just say what journalists probably do not say often enough to those who help shape our work: Thank you. Thank you for it all, the trust, the help, the open-mindedness, the feedback good and bad.

I should also say what I keep telling our close friends in Australia: This is not a forever goodbye. I am an Australian citizen now; so are my wife and our two children. I will occasionally be back for fun and journalism, and I can assure you, a conversational, voice-y version of The New York Times — with a vantage point far beyond New York and Washington — will appear in your inbox once again.

In the meantime, I hope you'll keep reading, listening and watching The Times and all that we do from all over the world. In this pivotal moment, our ambitions and sense of responsibility as a global news organization continue to grow — and our readers are a vital part of our mission to "seek the truth and help people understand the world."

Thank you for helping us get this far. Feel free to drop me a note or a story tip about the region or the world (damienc@nytimes.com) if you get the urge.

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