Michael Kelly's first media job was booking guests for ABC News and its "Good Morning America" television program. He was a newspaper journalist for "The Cincinnati Post" (1983–1986), "The Baltimore Sun" (1986–1989) and later, after writing freelance and reporting in the first Gulf War, he worked for "The New York Times" (1992–1994). While he worked freelance, his articles were published in "The Boston Globe" and "GQ". "The New Republic" published his reporting on the Persian Gulf War in 1991. He was a staff writer for "The New York Times Magazine". In 1994, he joined "The New Yorker" and wrote its "Letter From Washington" column until his departure in 1996.