By Dave Astor
NSNC Archivist
Margaret Sullivan
Photo By Michaelbenabib
Margaret Sullivan will be the June 22 afternoon keynote speaker during our upcoming annual conference in Buffalo, New York. She’s the media columnist for The Washington Post, the former public editor of The New York Times, and the former editor of The Buffalo News. I interviewed her via email on April 15.
Dave Astor: How often do you get back to Buffalo/the Buffalo area? Is Buffalo a city NSNC conference attendees will enjoy visiting?
Margaret Sullivan: I’m in Buffalo quite a lot, particularly in the summer when I’m lucky enough to spend time at a family cottage on Lake Erie. If the NSNC attendees enjoy architecture, art, great food, and general coolness, they will have a great time in Western New York. I particularly recommend a visit to the Darwin Martin House, which is a Frank Lloyd Wright-designed home with a terrific tour and visitors center [NSNC attendees will be seeing it June 21!], and the Albright Knox Art Gallery.
DA: What are you planning to talk about during your conference speech?
MS: I will talk about the importance of real opinion writing as opposed to punditry and hot takes.
DA: Why are columnists important? Are they particularly important during this particular time in the 
U.S.? Why?
MS: I’ll pass on this as it is the subject of my talk.
DA: Why is a media columnist important? And (to sort of repeat my previous question) is a media columnist particularly important during this particular time in the U.S.? Why?
MS: The role of the media is a big story these days, especially with President Trump’s disparagement of the mainstream press. Journalism is under siege, the media are hugely influential, and – in general – it’s just a very rich area of coverage and commentary.
DA: You began your Washington Post media column in May 2016, almost exactly three years ago. How did that career change come about after being The New York Times’ public editor?
MS: As my four-year public editor stint was coming to an end, the Times asked me to stay for another two-year term. But I felt it was important to move on before I lost my ability to look at the institution with independence. I didn’t want to become an insider. So I started looking around for opportunities. I had always admired both The Washington Post and the leadership of executive editor Marty Baron, so I pitched them on the idea of a media columnist similar to what David Carr had done at The New York Times. They were interested, and it’s been a good fit.
DA: What was the NYT public editor stint like for you? What were you most proud of during your time in that position?
MS: It’s a tricky role, obviously, with a great deal of inherent tension. Overall, I feel as if I flourished while doing it, though I can’t say that I really enjoyed it on a day-to-day basis. It’s a very tough gig. I’m proud of challenging the Times on transparency, anonymous sourcing, diversity, and other substantive issues, and I’m proud of making the job much more digitally oriented. I blogged and tweeted frequently, as well as writing a column for print.
DA: You were the first female NYT public editor, and the first female Buffalo chief editor. What did that mean to you? Or was it a case of “why does it take so long for women to be named to important positions they should have been named to long before”?
MS: It was especially meaningful for me to become the first woman to edit The Buffalo News. I started my career there as a summer intern, and ended up as chief editor for almost 13 years. There were a lot of jobs in between. It truly was a case of breaking through the glass ceiling, after being told by savvy observers that the News would never have a woman editor or wasn’t ready for one. I was aware, every day, that it was a privilege to serve the community where I grew up, to hire dozens of talented journalists, and to direct the paper’s coverage.
DA: During your years at the News, I understand you wrote a column at least part of that time. What kind of column was it?
MS: I wrote an editor’s column that appeared on many, if not most, Sundays. The purpose was to try to explain the workings of the paper to our readers. Previously, I had written the metro column which ran on the front of the City & Region section so I was comfortable in that role.
DA: Approximately how many newspapers and other outlets run your media column in addition to the Post?
MS: My column is distributed through the Washington Post Writers Group, so it goes out to dozens of papers. I’m not sure how many but it’s always fun to hear that somebody in Bangor, Maine, or Salt Lake City, Utah, has read the column and has something to say about it. And The Buffalo News runs it regularly on the op-ed page, which is always a thrill for me, even now.
DA: Any other comments?
MS: I’m looking forward to addressing the group and learning from the terrific columnists who are coming to the conference.
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Dave Astor writes the weekly “Montclairvoyant” topical-humor column for Baristanet.com, blogs weekly at DaveAstorOnLiterature.com, and is the author of “Fascinating Facts About Famous Fiction Authors and the Greatest Novels of All Time: The Book Lover’s Guide to Literary Trivia.”
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