Global news and the surrounding issues don’t stop on Christmas Day – lunch can wait

Nobody wants to work over Christmas. As we move into the depths of winter, our summer glow well and truly faded, the holiday season can’t come soon enough. A week or two spent with family, gratuitous amounts of food and booze and an excuse to while away a couple of hours on the sofa with a good book – it doesn’t get much better than that.

But as my colleague Sean O’Grady noted in yesterday’s letter, Christmases aren’t as work-free as they used to be for us journalists. As the advent of online news revolutionised the industry – and the way in which readers consume journalism – our work patterns have changed dramatically. Don’t get me wrong. Editors have been kept particularly busy in the preceding month compiling Christmas material for your enjoyment, but our newsroom still needs to be stocked with journalists throughout the holidays to keep on top of events around the world.

I think what I’m trying to say in a roundabout way is that though I’m one of the unlucky ones who’s drawn the short straw over the festive period, it’s not so bad. Over the next few days I’ll be commissioning, editing and uploading opinion pieces for the Voices section. The news is covered by our reporters and then I play a role in generating the angles and perspectives from which our columnists can come at an issue. It’s great fun really, and while I might have missed my family lunch (don’t worry, they’ve saved me a plate), I have very little to complain about. The demands of the job may have widened in many respects over the last decade, but thankfully the enjoyment has not been diminished.

Yours,

Casper Hughes

Voices commissioning editor