Jon Swift is a reporter.
We are told early on that he is "from the old stock of journos - cynical, cantankerous and overweight", which is true. He comes about his old school attitude the long way - by being old himself. Not as old as the geriatric media mogul who owns the organization for whom Swift works but getting closer it seems every day, being in his early 60s when we meet him.
Swift is definitely not a young pup looking for a great story to be his ticket up. He has had a few of those already in his time but now he recognizes, grudgingly, that those days are behind him. Nevertheless he still loves a good mystery and the chance to tell the facts regardless of the consequences.
Swift's reporting is done via television, being the face before the camera on years and years of stories from all parts of the world. He is the one in front of a burning government building in some capital or next to a blown-up tank on a field of battle or outside a courthouse as the audience awaits a verdict in a scandal case. As he puts it, his is the face you see and know you know but cannot immediately place until after a bit you realize he is that guy on the television screen you've seen hundreds of times. He calls it "accidental familiarity"
Which is why when we encounter him in the first adventure, his plight is so unexpected. He is so down on his luck do to the events of that story which he will then recount, he is staying in a poor area of Paris and paying bills by lurking around outdoor cafes for someone to finish an expensive lunch and then leave the money on the table before walking out; Swift would quickly swoop in and swipe the currency (never mind the coins!) and scamper. Except someone of his age and his weight does not scamper that well.
Swift's condition will not improve come the next adventure and his chances for survival will be even less but his irascibility will only get stronger.