NY Times biz desk hires Dooley to cover Japan

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

We are excited to announce that Ben Dooley has joined The New York Times as our Japan business correspondent.

Ben comes to us from Agence France-Presse in Beijing, where he spent three years reporting on politics, human rights and the economy, covering everything from Donald Trump’s business ties in Asia to Chinese government repression in Xinjiang. His work on Mr. Trump particularly caught our attention, since we had to keep scrambling to match his scoops.

“We weren’t the only ones following Ben, but we were certainly among the most frustrated,” Carlos Tejada says. “He had both solid sources and a knack for ferreting out the right documents. But best of all, he can spot a strong story and write it in a way that makes you want to keep reading, no matter how arcane the subject matter.”

Before A.F.P., Ben spent five years working for Japan’s Kyodo News in Beijing and Washington, where he covered the State Department, the Pentagon and the White House, with a focus on United States policy in Asia. Ben has a master’s degree in East Asian studies from Stanford and a bachelor’s in Asian studies from the University of Virginia.

Heading to Japan is a homecoming of sorts for Ben, who speaks Japanese and Mandarin fluently. Ben will arrive in Tokyo in the coming weeks, where he will work closely with Motoko Rich, the bureau chief.