The New York Times has established a bureau in Ho Chi Minh City. It will be led by Damien Cave.
In August 2009, Damien, who was based in Miami at the time, visited Pensacola to do a story for the Times on the murders of Bud and Melanie Billings on the eve of the grand jury report. He focused on my reporting and how it drew praise and criticism.
He met with Sheriff David Morgan, PNJ publisher Kevin Doyle, Chamber board chair Mort O’Sullivan, attorney Robert Beasley and my newspaper staff.
At the end of the day, we all shared wings, burgers and beer at New York Nick’s. I teased him about wearing sandals, and Damien explained that he had covered the war in the Middle East and got tired of sand in his boots. His sandals were a statement.
In its article announcing the Vietnam bureau, the Times wrote:
“Damien is just the correspondent to build on that tradition in new ways. In his 20 years at The Times, he’s embraced more than a few firsts, from early examples of live coverage in Metro to multimedia packages in Baghdad, and visual-first stories and thoughtful first-person essays written from wherever he happened to be, including Cuba and Australia.
He also served as a digital deputy on the National desk before opening a new bureau in Sydney in 2017, where he led a multidisciplinary team that accelerated subscriber growth while contributing exceptional journalism from all over the region.”
The Times sees its return to Vietnam is a sign of Asia’s rise as an important economic and political power center. It is also a testament to the International desk’s commitment to expanding global coverage and bolstering independent journalism worldwide.
Severval award-winning NYT journalists have been stationed in Vietman, including David Halberstam, Neil Sheehan, Fox Butterfield, Gloria Emerson and Craig Whitney.
On Linkedin, Damien posted, “New job, broader role, new location — time for another adventure with The New York Times. After more than seven years in Australia, I’ll be opening a new bureau in Vietnam, our first since 1975, digging into a range of stories and roaming widely.”
