The series comprises records of Peter Worthington's career with the Toronto Telegram, primarily as a foreign correspondent, revealing his working relationship with Telegram editors and owner John Bassett; the opening of its Moscow bureau; and his reporting on issues relating to communism, national security, espionage, international crises, wars, and revolutions. Telegram correspondence files show Bassett's leadership style, including letters and memoranda from him and executives like J. D. MacFarlane. His extensive correspondence with Bassett and Arnold Agnew reveals the editorial and logistical challenges of opening the Moscow Bureau. His Russian files show the wide range of human interest stories he reported to put a human face on Soviet communism. Perhaps of most interest is the story of the defection of his interpreter, Olga Pharmakovsky, in late 1966, which is documented by drafts of a series of articles, an unpublished book-length manuscript, and photographs. None of the articles about her were ever published. He also wrote extensively on Igor Gouzenko, befriending Gouzenko and his family and championing their interests in print. This material is complemented by nine original political cartoons by Al Beaton, primarily relating to Russia and communism.
His foreign correspondent files for the 1950s and 1960s, including scrapbooks of his articles, catalogue the world's crises, revolutions, and wars. He toured Africa, Asia, and the Middle East extensively from 1957 to 1963, writing in-depth features for the Telegram and meeting influential figures like King Hussein of Jordan, Premier Abdul Kassem of Iraq, and President Gamal Abdul Nasser of Egypt. His files for the 1958 military coup in Iraq, for example, hold notes of his interview with Kassem, typescript drafts of his articles, clippings, photographs, and background material. His coverage of the Suez crisis and UNEF mission and his return to Egypt in 1959 contains notes of interviews with Nasser, drafts of his articles, annotated page proofs, letters from Canadian ambassador Arnold Smith, and photographs. His articles on the flight of Jews from Morocco in 1961 were reprinted in pamphlet form. In the Nigeria-Biafra war in 1969, he traveled with military forces on both sides to the front of the battle for Owerri. His photograph of a victim, hands-bound, of an execution-style killing provided evidence of "atrocities" not found by the international observer team. In addition to photographs, there are drafts of his articles, clippings, official reports, research material, and a personal account of a survivor of the "Biafra genocide". The Biafra series won him a second National Newspaper Award. The closing of the Telegram is documented with drafts of articles, clippings, union bulletins, reader mail, and his own typed daily notes from 16 September to 29 October 1971 tracking the death of the "Tely".
See also the Journals and Notebooks series for his daily notes and more detailed accounts of many of his travels as a foreign correspondent for the Telegram.
