Pamela Paul

Pamela Paul (born 1971 or 1972) is an American journalist, correspondent, editor, and author. She has been an opinion columnist for The New York Times since March, 2022. Beginning in 2013, Paul became editor of The New York Times Book Review, a post that she continued in until 2022. There her role expanded to oversee all New York Times book coverage including the staff critics and publishing news. Paul has recently received attention amidst controversy regarding her opinion and other writings on transgender issues, in particular with regard to medical treatment.

Early life and education
Paul is the daughter of Carole and Jerome D. Paul, and self-describes as being of Jewish descent. Paul's father was a construction contractor and her mother was an advertising copywriter and, later, the editor of Retail Ad World.

Paul graduated from Brown University in 1993 with an A.B.

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. The magazine also characterized her as "closely connected with The Economist."

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,

In 2013 Paul was promoted to the editorship of the Book Review. Under her direction, the New York Times Book review moved rapidly to gender parity; in 2012, the year before Paul took the job, the Book Review covered 488 books by male authors and 237 by women. In 2014, female representation in the Book Review reached 47%. As Paul described it to C-SPAN, as reviewed by the Washington Post, "We try to bear in mind that the books that are of interest to our readers are multifaceted... There are so many distinctions that you could choose. Some people think of it very much just in terms of gender. We try to keep an eye on gender but that's just one of the factors. I would say that ethnicity and country of origin are something we pay a lot of attention to."

In 2016, her job expanded to oversee all books coverage for The New York Times—the Book Review, daily print reviews, and publishing news, both in print and online.

During her time as editor, she also hosted the Book Review's weekly podcast. Under her direction, it was described as one of the best books podcasts in the world.

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

In March 2022, she moved from the Books section to the Opinion section at the New York Times. Her columns appear in the Times weekly, have covered many topics, and attract significant comment from Times readers, journalists in other publications, political groups such as FAIR, and academics. This includes remarks that her critics have deemed to be hostile to transgender people. She has been praised for her writing about gender, and the importance of reading.

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. On February 2, 2024, she published a 5,000-word piece entitled "Gender Dysphoric Kids Deserve Better Care", which discussed the stories of people who had received gender-affirming care in their youth and later detransitioned. Four days after publication of Paul's February 2 opinion, in an article entitled "The NYT’s Latest Op-Ed on Trans Kids Has Already Been Cited in an Anti-Trans Legal Brief", James Factora reported that Paul's article appeared as a source in a legal document authored by the Alliance Defending Freedom, challenging an injunction against an Idaho law making it a felony to provide gender-affirming care to children. Human Rights Campaign had previously stated in a press release that Paul had written "irresponsible, biased news and opinion pieces about the transgender community".

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.

Personal life
Her first marriage, to Times columnist Bret Stephens, ended in divorce. In 2004, she married financial analyst Michael Stern.

Paul is non-religious, and has described herself as a "nonbeliever" and a "rationalist".