Romano named Amazon reporter at Seattle Times

Seattle Times business editor Rami Grunbaum sent out the following announcement to the staff:

Benjamin Romano will be taking over coverage of Amazon for the Seattle Times. It’s a vital beat since Amazon has succeeded in insinuating itself into our lives as retailer, entertainer, home monitor, logistics provider and who knows what else, in the process becoming a key presence in Seattle as well as a major economic force nationally.

Benjamin brings many years of experience to the beat, including a four-year stint covering Microsoft and tech here before he left to write about renewable energy and other tech for two specialty publications, Recharge and Xconomy.

Since rejoining us a year ago he has provided insightful coverage of the retail world and the changing workplace, and I know he’ll be great at covering Amazon and its impact on those arenas. He will also find time to explore how businesses and consumers are addressing the many issues arising from climate change.

Benjamin is a University of Oregon journalism major who interned at Newsday as well as the Oregonian and the Daily Astorian, and then covered business, environment, agriculture and natural resources industries at the Daily Astorian and the Yakima Herald-Republic before joining the Seattle Times the first time around.