Pamela Paul

American journalist (born 1970s)

  • The Starter Marriage and the Future of Matrimony
  • Pornified
  • Parenting, Inc.
Spouse
Bret Stephens
(m. 1998, divorced)
Michael Stern
(m. 2004)
Children3Websitepamelapaul.com

Pamela Paul (born 1971 or 1972)[1] is an American journalist, correspondent, editor, and author. Since 2022, she has been a columnist for The New York Times.[2] From 2013 to 2022, she was the editor of The New York Times Book Review,[3] where her role expanded to oversee all New York Times book coverage including the staff critics and publishing news.[4]

Early life and education

Paul is the daughter of Carole and Jerome D. Paul.[1] Her father was a construction contractor and her mother was an advertising copywriter and, later, the editor of Retail Ad World.[1] She graduated from Brown University[5] with an A.B. in 1993. She is of Jewish descent.[6]

Career

Paul was a contributor to Time magazine and has written for many other publications, including Vogue, The Washington Post, The Atlantic, and Worth. She was a senior editor at the erstwhile magazine American Demographics, and was a London- and New York-based correspondent for The Economist, for which she wrote a monthly arts column from 1997 to 2002, and reviewed film, theater and books.[citation needed]

In 2011, Paul joined The New York Times and wrote the Studied column, as well as serving as children's books editor and features editor for the Book Review, before her promotion to the editorship of the Book Review.[7][8][9]

She is the author of eight books. Her first book was The Starter Marriage and the Future of Matrimony.[citation needed], which was featured on The Oprah Winfrey Show, The Today Show, Politically Incorrect and Good Morning America [10][better source needed]. After the 2005 publication of her book Pornified, she testified about pornography to the Senate Judiciary Committee.[11] She has also appeared on numerous podcasts,[citation needed] radio shows,[12] and other television shows.[13]

In 2022, she moved from the Books section to the Opinion section at the New York Times.[14] Her columns appear in the Times weekly, have covered many topics, and attract significant comment from Times readers, journalists in other publications,[15] political groups such as FAIR,[16] and academics.[17][18][better source needed] This includes remarks that her critics, including some progressives, have deemed to be hostile to transgender people.[19][20][21] She has been praised for her writing about gender,[22] and the importance of reading.[15]

Personal life

Her first marriage, to Times columnist Bret Stephens,[23] ended in divorce.[1] In 2004, she married hedge fund financier Michael Stern.[1]

Transgender coverage criticism

Since 2022, Paul has written multiple columns on transgender topics on the New York Times. These articles have been described as transphobic by some journalists and transgender activists.[19][24] On February 2, 2024, she published a 5,000-word piece titled "Gender Dysphoric Kids Deserve Better Care", which discussed the stories of people who had received gender-affirming care in their youth and later detransitioned.[25] The piece was criticized by some journalists and members of the transgender community.[26][27]

Four days after being published, Paul's article on detransitioners was featured as one of the sources in a legal document authored by the Alliance Defending Freedom challenging an injunction placed against an Idaho law that made it a felony to provide gender-affirming care to children.[26]

Human Rights Campaign stated in a press release that Paul had written "irresponsible, biased news and opinion pieces about the transgender community".[28] The New York Times defended itself and Paul's opinion pieces as fact checked according to Times standards, stating it had aimed to foster debate and open dialogue.[29]

Bibliography

  • Paul, Pamela (2003). The Starter Marriage and the Future of Matrimony. New York: Random House Trade Paperbacks. ISBN 9780812966763.
  • — (2005). Pornified: How Pornography Is Transforming Our Lives, Our Relationships, and Our Families. New York: Times Books. ISBN 9780805081329.
  • — (2008). Parenting, Inc. New York: Times Books/Henry Holt. ISBN 9780805082494.
  • —, ed. (2014). By the Book: Writers on Literature and the Literary Life from The New York Times Book Review. New York: Henry Holt. ISBN 9781627791458.
  • —, ed. (2017). My Life with Bob: Flawed Heroine Keeps Book of Books, Plot Ensues. New York: Henry Holt and Co. ISBN 9781627796316.
  • with Russo, Maria (2019). How to Raise a Reader. Workman. ISBN 978-1523505302.
  • — (2021). Liza Kaplan (ed.). Rectangle Time. Illustrated by Becky Cameron. New York. ISBN 978-0-593-11511-4. OCLC 1155064464.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  • — (2021). 100 Things We've Lost to the Internet (1st ed.). New York. ISBN 978-0-593-13677-5. OCLC 1236090469.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)

References

  1. ^ a b c d e "Weddings/Celebrations; Pamela Paul, Michael Stern". The New York Times. August 14, 2004. The bride, 33, will continue to use her name professionally.
  2. ^ "Pamela Paul's Next Chapter". The New York Times. March 7, 2022. Retrieved July 4, 2022.
  3. ^ "Pamela Paul Is Named New York Times Book Review Editor" Archived August 21, 2017, at the Wayback Machine, JimRomenesko.com, April 9, 2013.
  4. ^ Maher, John, "Pamela Paul to Oversee All New York Times Book Coverage", Publishers Weekly, August 18, 2016.
  5. ^ New York Times, "WEDDINGS/CELEBRATIONS; Pamela Paul, Michael Stern," Aug. 15, 2004
  6. ^ Paul, Pamela (May 2, 2017). My Life with Bob: Flawed Heroine Keeps Book of Books, Plot Ensues. Henry Holt and Company. p. 65. ISBN 9781627796323. Like many other morbid kids with Jewish ancestry, I was drawn to Holocaust reading from the moment I entered adolescence, seeking out the death and torture and deprivation and evil.
  7. ^ Announcement from Sam Tanenhaus and David Kelly, February 2, 2012.
  8. ^ "Job Moves", Publishers Weekly, January 21, 2011.
  9. ^ Diane Roback, "Pamela Paul Named Children's Books Editor at 'NYTBR'", Publishers Weekly, January 21, 2011.
  10. ^ "Pamela Paul Biography | Booking Info for Speaking Engagements". www.allamericanspeakers.com. Retrieved March 17, 2024.
  11. ^ "Testimony of Pamela Paul, author of Pornified" (PDF) (written testimony to Congress). Senate Judiciary Committee. November 10, 2005.
  12. ^ NPR Morning Edition, December 21, 2021, https://www.npr.org/2021/12/21/1066169815/boredom-is-one-of-the-100-things-weve-lost-to-the-internet
  13. ^ Real Time With Bill Maher, Season 21 episode 20, November 10, 2023
  14. ^ Sheehan, Dan (March 7, 2022). "Who should replace Pamela Paul at the NYT Books section?". Literary Hub. Retrieved October 25, 2022.
  15. ^ a b Feldman, Sari (April 8, 2021). "The Awesome Power of Picture Books". PublishersWeekly.com. Retrieved March 16, 2024.
  16. ^ Hollar, Julie (December 16, 2022). "Pamela Paul's Gender Agenda". FAIR. Retrieved March 16, 2024.
  17. ^ Henry Louis Gates Jr [@HenryLouisGates] (April 24, 2022). ""Whenever we treat an identity as something to be fenced off from those of another identity, we sell short the human imagination." https://t.co/QngXAZLGzN" (Tweet). Archived from the original on April 24, 2022. Retrieved February 16, 2023 – via Twitter.
  18. ^ Kross, Ethan [@ethan_kross] (November 27, 2022). ""I get the voice that comes in my head that says...that sucked," Gomez tells her team..."The pressure is just overwhelming...." Great article once again by Pamela Paul @nytimes, this time on the realities of imperfection https://t.co/LB4bN5XGqZ" (Tweet). Archived from the original on January 5, 2023. Retrieved February 16, 2023 – via Twitter.
  19. ^ a b "Pamela Paul criticized for anti-trans opinion about the word 'woman'". Los Angeles Times. July 7, 2022. Retrieved February 13, 2023.
  20. ^ Grant, Melissa Gira (July 6, 2022). "Pamela Paul's Great Replacement Theory". The New Republic. ISSN 0028-6583. Retrieved February 13, 2023.
  21. ^ Cauterucci, Christina (February 16, 2023). "Impeccable Timing, Pamela Paul!". Slate. ISSN 1091-2339. Retrieved March 16, 2024.
  22. ^ Uncomfortable women, CE Noticias Financieras, English ed.; Miami [Miami]. 08 July 2022.
  23. ^ "Weddings; Pamela Paul, Bret Stephens". The New York Times. September 20, 1998. Retrieved February 18, 2023.
  24. ^ Hocker, Scott; published, The Week US (February 15, 2024). "One NYT Opinion writer vs gender-affirming youth care". theweek. Retrieved February 15, 2024.
  25. ^ Paul, Pamela (February 2, 2024). "Opinion | As Kids, They Thought They Were Trans. They No Longer Do". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved February 16, 2024.
  26. ^ a b "The NYT's Latest Op-Ed on Trans Kids Has Already Been Cited in an Anti-Trans Legal Brief". Them. February 9, 2024. Retrieved February 16, 2024.
  27. ^ Meyerowitz-Katz, Gideon (February 8, 2024). "How Often do People Regret Transitioning?". Slate.
  28. ^ "Human Rights Campaign Calls Out New York Times for Publishing Transphobic Column One Day After an Open Letter Condemning its Anti-Transgender Coverage". Human Rights Campaign. February 16, 2023. Retrieved February 15, 2024.
  29. ^ Warrington, James (February 15, 2023). "How the New York Times was engulfed by a trans culture war". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved February 15, 2024.

External links

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