Strong antitrust agencies are important to a vibrant, growing economy. The general public is aware today that antitrust exists and that it is meant to keep companies from doing bad things. But people don't get the subtleties, such as the difference between a legal monopoly and an abusive monopoly. Translating antitrust into terms that people can understand without doing violence to the underlying concepts is the journalist's task. The context of news reporting complicates the task.
News usually relates to an event that is important in a contained period of time.
The antitrust reporter has to tell an abstract economic story in a way that qualifies as news, rather than merely what people should be informed about. Dealing with personalities and crises is much easier than explaining a Master Card case or an American Airlines predation case. He enjoys watching them reason their way through complicated situations. For another, he enjoys watching the way old underlying principles continue to apply, even as technology and market structures change. When Lawsky arrives in Brussels, he and an assistant will be beefing up what was already a strong presence, replacing two predecessors who have moved on to other jobs, one at the Financial Times, the other at DGComp.