Gail Collins

I’m an Opinion columnist for The New York Times, focusing on domestic politics.

What I Cover

I’ve always tried to use humor to get readers interested in the political issues of the day — or in the current era, maybe just less depressed.

My Background

After graduate school in Massachusetts, I moved to Connecticut, where my husband had a job in New Haven. Couldn’t find a regular reporting gig, so I contacted all the weekly and small daily papers to see if they wanted coverage of their state legislators. At the time, there were tons of potential clients — most closed now, alas. I wound up sending several stories a week to each of them, giving me a good background in state government and extremely speedy typing skills.

I moved on to cover local government for United Press International and New York Newsday. I joined The Times in 1995 as an editorial board member, then columnist, then editorial page editor. I left that wonderful job to go back to writing columns. I’ve also written a bunch of books, most on women’s history.

Journalistic Ethics

Most politicians and other sources I’ve dealt with have been aware of The Times’s strong honor code, and I can’t, to be honest, remember any unethical offer that was even vaguely tempting.

Don’t think I’ve ever sought out any personal favors from politicians, except an ongoing attempt to get the city to fix the broken sidewalk on my block. And I’m proud to say that after years of effort, the cracks are still there.