Media critic Margaret Sullivan to depart The Washington Post

By Oliver Darcy, CNN Business

Media critic Margaret Sullivan is retiring her acclaimed column and leaving The Washington Post this month.

“Working at the legendary Washington Post has been one of the greatest privileges of my life,” Sullivan said in a memo sent to her colleagues at The Post. “I’m so grateful to my editors and my colleagues, not just in Style but throughout the newsroom. They have inspired me every day.”

Sullivan, who has worked in journalism for four decades, will join Duke University part time as the 2023 Pamela and Jack Egan Visiting Professor. Her last day at The Post will be August 24.

In the memo to staff, managing editor Krissah Thompson, styles editor Amy Argetsinger, deputy features editor Mitch Rubin, and deputy features editor David Malitz offered effusive praise for Sullivan.

“For six and a half years, Margaret’s media column has been a destination read for her tough-minded and engaging perspective at the intersection of journalism, free speech and national politics,” the editors said in their memo.

“More than a star columnist,” the editors added about Sullivan, “she has been a mentor, sounding board and role model for our media team and the newsroom at large.”

Prior to joining the Washington Post, Sullivan worked as the public editor at The New York Times and as the chief editor of her hometown newspaper, the Buffalo News.

In addition to teaching at Duke University, Sullivan also plans to work on book projects moving forward. Sullivan’s next book “Newsroom Confidential: Lessons (and Worries) From an Ink-Stained Life” is scheduled to be released in October.

And the memo sent to Post staffers said that Sullivan would also like to “write a fictional series about a laid-off local newspaper reporter who turns her investigative skills to solving crimes.”

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