Photo credit: Joyce N. Boghosian
“We may be ready for a glass of wine or two. This has been such a tumultuous year. Tonight we are so honored to have the opportunity to hear from a newsroom giant who’s also known as one of the greatest newspaper editors of his or any other time – Marty Baron, the courageous former executive editor of The Washington Post, The Boston Globe, Miami Herald, who is also the recipient of many prestigious awards,” President and CEO of Corporation for Public Broadcasting told guests at the Board of Directors Dinner at the National Press Club with special guest Martin Baron in conversation.
Pat Harrison
“Marty Baron took charge of The Washington Post newsroom in 2013, after nearly a dozen years leading The Boston Globe. Just seven months into his new job, Baron received explosive news: Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon, would buy the Post, marking a sudden end to control by the venerated family that had presided over the paper for 80 years. Just over two years later, Donald Trump won the presidency.
Now, the capital’s newspaper, owned by one of the world’s richest men, was tasked with reporting on a president who had campaigned against the press as the “lowest form of humanity.” Pressures on Baron and his colleagues were immense and unrelenting, having to meet the demands of their new owner while contending with a president who waged a war of unprecedented vitriol and vengeance against the media.
Bob Costa and Ruby Calvert
In the face of Trump’s unceasing attacks, Baron steadfastly managed the Post’s newsroom. Their groundbreaking and award-winning coverage included stories about Trump’s purported charitable giving, misconduct by the Secret Service, and Roy Moore’s troubling sexual history. At the same time, Baron managed a restive staff during a period of rapidly changing societal dynamics around gender and race. In Collision of Power, Baron recounts this with the tenacity of a reporter and the sure hand of an experienced editor. The result is elegant and revelatory―an urgent exploration of the nature of power in the 21st century.” Amazon description. Ironic.
Marty Baron with Liz Sembler
“My profession of nearly a half decade struggled with questions about its mission and its standards in this political environment unlike any we previously experienced.,” Marty told Hollywood on the Potomac. “How were we supposed to go about our work? How could we uphold our additional values or were they worth holding onto in the face of unprecedented threats to a free press to expression democracy, and even the very idea of objective truth. Lemme suggest that we begin by asking ourselves why we have journalism in a society like ours. I answer the question this way. The purpose of journalism and the democracy is to provide people with the information they need and deserve to know so that they might govern themselves. Admission includes what I consider our profession’s highest and original calling, holding powerful individuals and institutions to account to do that work correctly, effectively and convincingly.”
