A New Editor for Politics

The sprint to the midterms is moving at a relentless pace, making live coverage of breaking news indispensable to our readers. We are thrilled to announce that Ben Shpigel is joining the Politics desk to lead the charge to elevate our real-time political coverage after a distinguished run on the Live team.

During his time on Live, Ben guided fast-breaking coverage of a wide variety of stories, from weighty news from the White House and the conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East to lighter looks at the solar eclipse and the National Spelling Bee. He stretched the boundaries of his role, lending a writerly touch to pinned items and the occasional ledeall, all while staying cool, calm and collaborative under deadline pressure.

"Ben is the type of editor you want on your team," said Julie Bloom, the Live editor. "He has great editing instincts, writes with style and is just as comfortable in the middle of a big chaotic live blog as he is writing a ledeall. He also has a wonderful attitude, always willing to try a new approach and he handles any situation with humor and care."

Ben has already played a large role in our live coverage of several major primaries this year, and he is full of creative ideas about finding ways to make our live political coverage more sophisticated and visually compelling, including with greater use of graphics and video.

Before joining the Live team in 2022, Ben worked on the Sports desk for 17 years, covering everything from the N.F.L. to Wimbledon to the Paralympics , and also writing several Great Reads . His embed on Audience also helped inform his sharp understanding of how best to serve our readers.

"His years in Sports and on Live have prepared him well for his new role: to expect the unexpected, and to have a Plan A, B and C at his fingertips for the inevitable moment when the story suddenly changes," said Andy Das of Live.

Ben joined The Times in 2005 from The Dallas Morning News, where he covered high school football, recruiting and the Texas Rangers.

Ben lives with his wife and two children in New Jersey, where he loves playing tennis, reading and doing the Sunday crossword while watching Premier League soccer.

Please join me in welcoming him.

- Michael