Matthew Lee (born September 9, 1965) is an American journalist and diplomatic writer who has been working for the

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American not-for-profit organization, not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are dist ...

since 2007. He previously wrote for

Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse (; AFP) is a French international news agency headquartered in Paris, France. Founded in 1835 as Havas, it is the world's oldest news agency. With 2,400 employees of 100 nationalities, AFP has an editorial presence in 260 c ...

from 1995 to 2007, as well as working for ''

The Daily Progress ''The Daily Progress'' is a newspaper published in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States. History ''The Daily Progress'' has been published since September 14, 1892. The paper was founded by James Hubert Lindsay and his brother Frank Lind ...

'' and ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

''.

Early life and education

Lee graduated from

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private Jesuit research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789, it is the oldest Catholic higher education, Ca ...

School of Foreign Service The Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service (SFS) is the school of international relations at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. It grants degrees at both undergraduate and graduate levels. Founded in 1919, SFS is the oldest continu ...

with a

Bachelor of Science in Foreign Service The Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service (SFS) is the school of international relations at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. It grants degrees at both Undergraduate education, undergraduate and Postgraduate education, graduate lev ...

degree in

international relations International relations (IR, and also referred to as international studies, international politics, or international affairs) is an academic discipline. In a broader sense, the study of IR, in addition to multilateral relations, concerns al ...

in 1989.

Career

After college, he started working at ''The Washington Post'' as a news aide, a job he said in a 2019 interview started his interest in journalism. He then proceeded to move to

Charlottesville Charlottesville, colloquially known as C'ville, is an independent city in Virginia, United States. It is the seat of government of Albemarle County, which surrounds the city, though the two are separate legal entities. It is named after Quee ...

, Virginia to work for ''The Daily Progress'' as a local news reporter. In 1994, Lee moved to

Cambodia Cambodia, officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. It is bordered by Thailand to the northwest, Laos to the north, and Vietnam to the east, and has a coastline ...

and worked as a freelance reporter for ''

The Cambodia Daily ''The Cambodia Daily'' is a US-based English and Khmer language news site that evolved from a newspaper of the same name that stopped publishing in Cambodia in 2017 due to a tax dispute with the government then led by Hun Sen. ''The Cambodia Dail ...

'' and several international news outlets. In 1995, he joined Agence France-Presse and became their

Phnom Penh Phnom Penh is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Cambodia, most populous city of Cambodia. It has been the national capital since 1865 and has grown to become the nation's primate city and its political, economic, industr ...

bureau chief. On June 17, 1997, while covering a firefight in Phnom Penh between gunmen aligned respectively to the two co-rulers of Cambodia, Lee was wounded by shrapnel. From 1999 to 2005, Lee covered the

United States Department of State The United States Department of State (DOS), or simply the State Department, is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy of the United State ...

for AFP, before becoming deputy bureau chief of Agence France-Presse's East Africa bureau in

Nairobi Nairobi is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Kenya. The city lies in the south-central part of Kenya, at an elevation of . The name is derived from the Maasai language, Maasai phrase , which translates to 'place of cool waters', a ...

, Kenya. In 2007, he moved back to Washington D.C. and started covering the United States State Department for the Associated Press. As the State Department reporter for the Associated Press, Lee has been noted on multiple occasions as unusually assertive in exchanges with State Department Spokespersons

Victoria Nuland Victoria Jane Nuland (born July 1, 1961) is an American diplomat who served as Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs from 2021 to 2024. A former member of the US Foreign Service, she served as Assistant Secretary of State for European an ...

Jen Psaki Jennifer Rene Psaki (; born December 1, 1978) is an American television political analyst and former government official. A political advisor who served under both the Obama and Biden administrations, she served the Biden administration as the ...

Ned Price Edward Price (born November 22, 1982) is an American diplomat, political advisor and former intelligence officer who served as the deputy to the United States Ambassador to the United Nations from 2024 to 2025. In this role, he is considered a D ...

, and Matthew Miller. In an article about the importance of an adversarial press, Nathan J. Robinson of '' Current Affairs'' described Lee's February 2022 exchange with Price as "a master class in how journalists should approach government claims".

Personal life

Lee is married and has a daughter.

References

External links

* * Living people 1965 births 20th-century American journalists 21st-century American journalists Associated Press reporters Agence France-Presse journalists The Washington Post people American male journalists American foreign correspondents Walsh School of Foreign Service alumni {{US-journalist-1960s-stub