NY Times hires Stevens to be deputy tech editor

New York Times business editor Ellen Pollock sent out the following on Wednesday:

We’re delighted to announce that Laura Stevens is joining The Times as a deputy technology editor.

Laura joins us from The Washington Post, where she was most recently technology industry editor, helping to guide coverage of some of the biggest tech companies, including Amazon, Apple and Google. She also ran coverage of major tech news events like Elon Musk’s acquisition of Twitter, and the social media companies’ responses to the Jan. 6 riots at the Capitol.

Before The Post, Laura spent nearly a decade at The Wall Street Journal, where she covered Amazon and broke news about the company’s second headquarters and other stories. She also covered logistics and was a foreign correspondent covering German banking. She started her journalism career as a business reporter, then special projects reporter at The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette in Little Rock, where she chronicled problematic aspects of fracking in the Fayetteville shale.

Tripp Mickle, who covered the 2016 Pulse nightclub shooting in Florida with Laura at The Journal, said she brought tremendous sensitivity to every conversation she had with people who had been locked inside that venue. Over the years, they also brainstormed many story ideas, including Amazon’s practice of giving free bananas to its employees, he said.

“She’s not just a hard worker but a superb listener, skilled at connecting with reporters and sources alike,” Tripp said.

Born in Florida and raised on both coasts, Laura is a graduate of the University of Central Florida. Seven years in the San Francisco Bay area means she also became an avid hiker. The erstwhile classically trained violinist still picks up her instrument to play on occasion.

Please welcome her to The Times.