Former Washington Post chief editor Marty Baron said people “should be grateful” to the press for their hard work “holding Trump accountable.”
Baron discussed the paper’s owner, Jeff Bezos, and his recent changes to the opinion page, announcing that it would be in support of “personal liberties and free markets” and not publish any positions opposing those pillars.
Baron said on Mediaite’s “Press Club” podcast Monday that he was “very disturbed” and “shocked” by that decision.
“It’s not something I anticipated because my impression was that Bezos had always argued for a variety of opinions on the opinion pages — that they should reflect the range of opinions in the country,” Baron said. “There’s always debate about policy, and a news organization like The Washington Post has a tradition of carrying a wide variety of opinions. It should make sure that continues. So I was stunned by this and deeply disturbed by it.”
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Despite his criticism, Baron argued against canceling Washington Post subscriptions, saying he was still “delighted” by the news it publishes and hopes it will be recognized for its “revelatory reporting” on President Donald Trump.
“The Post is actually doing the work, holding Trump accountable, telling people what’s happening in their government, despite all this stuff happening on the opinion pages,” Baron said. “I’ve been gone four years, but I know the staff, and it’s a great staff. They’re honorable people. They work really hard to gather the information. It’s unfortunate that they’re being victimized by everything happening around them.”
He continued, “I wish Bezos and [Washington Post CEO] Will Lewis would publicly thank them for the work they’re doing because that’s exactly why we have a free press in this country and why we need a free press. It would be nice if, instead of causing so much disruption, they expressed their gratitude to the staff for their hard work and the revelatory reporting they’re doing. They deserve that gratitude. I think the public should be grateful as well for the work they’re doing and should support it.”
Baron also urged outlets to ignore claims from people like Trump that legacy media is dead, claiming Trump himself is “unbelievably obsessed” with traditional media.
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“But I will say this about the press: Trump keeps arguing that we’re irrelevant, and his people argue that we’re irrelevant. Elon Musk argues that we’re irrelevant. But the truth is, we’re not irrelevant. The biggest evidence of that is they’re so obsessed with us. If we were irrelevant, they wouldn’t be so obsessed with us. They wouldn’t give a damn about us,” Baron said.
“In fact, that’s all they seem to be able to talk about. Trump is unbelievably obsessed with the traditional press. So how can you both argue that we’re irrelevant and at the same time talk about us all the time? It makes no sense.”
Baron made headlines in October after attacking his former paper for refusing to endorse a candidate in the 2024 presidential election.
“I do think this is a serious mistake, and it’s done enormous damage to the brand of the Washington Post…I worry about the damage that it does to the brand and the reputation to the Post and that people might have greater suspicions today…,” Baron said on Boston Public Radio.
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