The Times’s 24-Hour Global Relay: New York to Hong Kong and Seoul to London

Editors in both the Asia hub and in London also handle various live briefings on a variety of topics, with Russell Goldman, Jennifer Jett, Mike Ives and Dan Powell in Hong Kong, and Kaly Soto, Ms. Specia, Mr. Santora and Daniel Victor in London tackling, at times, multiple live briefings at once.

Coverage of the coronavirus began in Wuhan, China, which the Asia hub oversaw. As the virus spread, so did the demands of the coverage, becoming an all-hands-on-deck live briefing article that continues today, with London or Hong Kong editors starting a new coronavirus briefing every day. Coverage of the U.S. election, which lasted days, was passed from news hub to news hub. When the Politics desk managed a few hours of sleep, the Asia and London hubs continued to watch for breaking news, maintain live coverage and edit articles.

When U.S. news breaks overnight, as it did with President Trump’s diagnosis with the coronavirus, the Asia hub can work with the Washington bureau as well as with London to follow that story from thousands of miles away.

“We’re built to do anything,” Ms. Carter said. “It can be frenetic and crazy at times, but that’s the excitement, right? You get to experience it all.”

Jim Yardley, the Europe editor, said that the way the international newsrooms are structured helps makes the joint efforts seamless. “One of the things about London and Hong Kong is that, primarily, they are outgrowths of the International desk, but they are part of every desk in many ways,” he said. “It’s an attempt to actually make the work more collaborative and less siloed.”

In late November, there were signals of a covert meeting between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia, a major story. Editors in London phoned the correspondents responsible for covering that news in both Lebanon and Israel, whose primary editors were based in New York. The breaking news was published, and the wheels of coverage were set in motion.

“It was a very complicated story because it kept changing,” Mr. Yardley said. “And by the time New York woke up, we were probably on the fifth version of that story.”