Martin Baron, executive editor of the Washington Post and recipient of multiple Pulitzer Prizes over the course of his career, announced his retirement today. Baron spearheaded Spotlight, the Boston Globe’s investigation into attempts by the Catholic Church to cover-up sexual abuse, and oversaw the Post’s editorial transformation under Amazon founder Jeff Bezos — turning it from a regional paper into a national brand.
Growing chatter that Washington Post executive editor Marty Baron could soon retire is complicating searches for several other high-profile top news jobs, including the quest for a new head of the Los Angeles Times, media sources say.
They’re pals who once vied for the same jobs. Now, as editors of The New York Times and The Washington Post, they’re locked in a daily battle for Trump scoops.
“Values are what matter most. And this is a good time to talk about them. A good time to reaffirm what we as journalists stand for,” Marty Baron, executive editor of The Washington Post, said when accepting the Hitchens Prize. “This is a time we are compelled to fight for free expression and a free press—rights granted us under the Constitution, yes, but also the very qualities that have long set us apart from other nations.”
