LA Times hires in China and on the West beat

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The LA Times newsroom has been told about two new additions. Jonathan Kaiman, recently with the Guardian, is going to Bejing to join Julie Makinen in the bureau there. And former New York Times reporter William Yardley is coming to the LAT to cover energy and environment issues in the West based in Seattle, in a position funded by the Society of Environmental Journalists’ Fund for Environmental Journalism. These both went out to the staff on Monday.

Here are the memos:

To: The Staff
From: Kim Murphy, Assistant Managing Editor/Foreign and National

I am pleased to announce that The Times is expanding its coverage of Asia by restoring a second correspondent’s position in China.

Jonathan Kaiman has recently joined the foreign staff and will – as soon as the Chinese visa authorities permit – join Julie Makinen in our Beijing bureau.

Jon is already a familiar byline here. During his internship with The Times in China during 2011 and 2012, he had a long list of excellent stories, including several Column Ones. Jon went on to become the Guardian’s China correspondent, writing on such diverse topics as Uyghur tightrope walkers, a Mongolian shaman, the “umbrella” revolution in Hong Kong and the country’s notorious “cancer villages.”

Kaiman began his work in China as a Fulbright scholar, recording hundreds of traditional songs and stories in the mountains of Sichuan province – becoming so fascinated with the country that he stayed on improve his mastery of Mandarin at the Capital University of Economics and Business in Beijing.

Jon also holds a bachelor of arts in cognitive science and Chinese from Vassar College.
Please join me in welcoming him to the foreign staff.

To: The Staff
From: Kim Murphy, Assistant Managing Editor/Foreign and National

I’m very happy to announce that William Yardley will be joining us as a writer in national, covering energy and environment issues in the West.

Bill has a strong portfolio in Western resource and public lands issues. He has written with style and authority on offshore oil drilling, beryllium mining in Alaska, chemical use in fighting wildfires, endangered species recovery in the Rocky Mountain West, salmon restoration and Northwest forest policy. Better yet, he has turned these important topics into highly readable stories, infused with the money, character and drama that often accompany the debate over our region’s vast landscape.

Bill comes to us after 11 years at the New York Times, during which he reported from all over the U.S. on everything from Sarah Palin to war crimes and climate change. Before that, he reported for the Miami Herald and the St. Petersburg Times and spent a year as an early digital writer for the Washington Post.

Bill holds a bachelor of arts degree in art history and English literature from the University of North Carolina. He will start today, joining national correspondent Maria LaGanga in Seattle.

This position is funded with a grant from the Society of Environmental Journalists’ Fund for Environmental Journalism.