Margaret Sullivan

Washington, D.C.

Former columnist

Education: Georgetown University; Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism

Margaret Sullivan was the media columnist for The Washington Post from 2016 to 2022. Before joining The Post, she was the New York Times's public editor and previously the chief editor of the Buffalo News, her hometown paper, where she started as a summer intern. She is a graduate of Georgetown University and Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism. Her memoir, "Newsroom Confidential: Lessons (and Worries) from an Ink-Stained Life," was published by Macmillan in October 2022. She is also the author of "Ghosting the News: Local Journalism and the Crisis of American Democracy" (Col
Latest from Margaret Sullivan

Barbara Walters, a ‘shining example of possibility’ for women in a man’s world

Barbara Walters, in decades as a news anchor and host, was "the first woman I can remember who was widely respected for her career,” said one fan.

January 1, 2023

My final column: 2024 and the dangers ahead

Before signing off, Margaret Sullivan offers advice to her fellow journalists on how to cover a perilous election.

August 21, 2022

Book bans are threatening American democracy. Here’s how to fight back.

It starts with organizing locally, where the greatest threats exist.

August 9, 2022

The cautious calculation behind whether Fox will dump Trump

Rupert Murdoch (and Fox News) just might ditch Trump. Whatever decision is made will be done with one reason in mind — what's best for business.

August 1, 2022

Four reasons the Jan. 6 hearings have conquered the news cycle

There was no guarantee these hearings would break through the way they have. Here’s what set them apart.

July 22, 2022

Newspapers are dying? This digital media veteran launched one anyway.

Susan Clark knew that print newspapers had lost ground to the Internet. But in her Connecticut hometown, “we just desperately needed a paper."

July 21, 2022

Steve Bannon might finally go to jail. We can hope.

If only he’d also pay for another crime: the way he tried to turn the public against the reality-based press and buried truth under an avalanche of lies.

July 13, 2022

Please, pundits, stop trying to predict the future. You’re bad at it.

Their confident but wildly wrong projections on Roe v. Wade’s survival or a Trump concession somehow were met with no repercussions.

July 6, 2022

Every week, two more newspapers close — and ‘news deserts’ grow larger

In poorer, less-wired parts of the U.S., it’s harder to find credible news about your local community. That has dire implications for democracy.

June 29, 2022

How journalists can spot the signs of autocracy — and help ward it off

The threats to democracy are everywhere now. A new guidebook tries to show reporters the right way to cover them.

June 23, 2022