FT names new DC bureau chief

The Financial Times announced Thursday the appointment of Demetri Sevastopulo as Washington bureau chief, to lead the FT’s coverage of U.S. politics and policy and the 2016 presidential election.

He will assume the role immediately.

U.S. managing editor Gillian Tett said: “Demetri is one of our most experienced reporters and editors and we are delighted that he will lead our world class DC team at a pivotal time in American politics. He knows the town and its stories well, having begun his FT career in Washington more than a decade ago, reporting on the Pentagon, CIA and Washington business.”

Sevastopulo joined the FT in 2002, after working for Bloomberg and Citi in Japan. He covered Washington for the next seven years in various roles and spent five years in Hong Kong as the FT’s Asia news editor and South China correspondent. Most recently, he was U.S. political correspondent.

He holds degrees from Trinity College Dublin and Harvard University where he also worked as a teaching fellow and senior editor of the Harvard China Review. In addition, he studied intensive Chinese at Beijing University. Sevastopulo speaks near-native Japanese, fluent Mandarin and basic Cantonese.

Sevastopulo succeeds Megan Murphy, who is leaving the FT.