# Margaret Sullivan

> Margaret Sullivan is an American journalist, author and media critic whose career runs from a summer internship at The Buffalo News to leading that newsroom, scrutinizing The New York Times as its first woman public editor, covering media for The Washington Post and writing for The Guardian US. Through her American Crisis newsletter and two books, she argues that accurate, independent, public-spirited journalism is infrastructure for democracy.

- **Role:** Guardian US columnist and publisher of the American Crisis newsletter
- **Organizations:** The Guardian US, American Crisis, Columbia Journalism School, Duke University, The Washington Post, The New York Times, The Buffalo News, Pulitzer Prize Board, American Academy of Arts and Sciences
- **From:** Lackawanna, New York, United States
- **Nationality:** American
- **Education:** Bachelor's degree in English, Georgetown University, Master of Science in Journalism, Northwestern University Medill School of Journalism
- **Known for:** First woman editor of The Buffalo News in the newspaper's 131-year history., First woman public editor of The New York Times., Established The Buffalo News's first investigative team and expanded its emphasis on local enterprise reporting.

## Career timeline

- **1980** — Joined The Buffalo News after starting there as a summer intern.
- **1999** — Became the first woman editor of The Buffalo News.
- **2001** — Added the title of vice president, another first for a woman at The Buffalo News.
- **2011** — Elected to the Pulitzer Prize Board after serving four times as a juror.
- **2012-2016** — Served as the first woman public editor of The New York Times.
- **2016-2022** — Wrote the media column for The Washington Post.
- **2020** — Published Ghosting the News: Local Journalism and the Crisis of American Democracy.
- **2022** — Published the memoir Newsroom Confidential: Lessons (and Worries) from an Ink-Stained Life.
- **2023** — Served as the Egan Visiting Professor at Duke University and launched American Crisis as a podcast.
- **2024-2025** — Served as interim executive director of Columbia Journalism School's Craig Newmark Center for Journalism Ethics and Security.
- **2026** — Continued writing for The Guardian US and publishing American Crisis as a reader-supported newsletter.

## Achievements

- First woman editor of The Buffalo News in the newspaper's 131-year history.
- First woman public editor of The New York Times.
- Established The Buffalo News's first investigative team and expanded its emphasis on local enterprise reporting.
- Elected to the Pulitzer Prize Board in 2011 after serving four times as a juror, including chairing the 2006 Commentary jury.
- Received the Bart Richards Award for Media Criticism in 2020.
- Received the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication First Amendment Award in 2023.
- Elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2023.
- Authored Ghosting the News and Newsroom Confidential.

## Latest updates

- **2026-09** — Published an American Crisis newsletter edition about escalating attacks on truth and a Guardian US column about a threat against an NBC journalist.
- **2026-08** — Continued weekly American Crisis editions focused on media accountability and midterm-election coverage.
- **2026-01** — Completed a two-year term as interim executive director of Columbia's Craig Newmark Center; Anika Collier Navaroli succeeded her effective January 1.
- **2025-01** — Reported that American Crisis had grown beyond 20,000 inboxes after she removed its paywall following the 2024 election.

## Links

- Website: https://margaretsullivan.substack.com/
- Twitter/X: https://x.com/Sulliview
- Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/sulliview.bsky.social

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/margaret-sullivan
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-09-05