There is life after Fairfax. At least for some. Jonathan Barrett, who left his role as the AFR’s Perth bureau chief in January, has a new job. From next Monday, he’s joining Reuters as deputy Australia/New Zealand bureau chief.

He will move to Sydney as part of his new gig. It’s a big loss for the Perth media; he won the WA Journalist of the Year award two years in a row in 2014-15. But one local tipster tells us the locals are used to the brain drain, particularly now that the mining boom is over and national outlets are cutting into their Perth newsrooms. Barrett’s far from the first winner to move away.

Steve Pennells, formerly of The West Australian, won 16 WA Media Award gongs between 2003 and 2014, including Journalist of the Year. He’s now mostly based out of Sydney (working for Channel Seven). And Anthony De Ceglie, who won the Journalist of the Year gong in 2012 while at the Sunday Times, has, since March, been working as the Daily Tele’s assistant editor, also based in Sydney. The 2013 Journo of the Year winners, Kirsti Melville and Meri Fatin, are still Perth-based.