In front of the next generation of student journalists at Indiana University, renowned newspaper editor Marty Baron said his fears of encroachment on the press and First Amendment freedoms have been realized — and could become worse than he imagined.
Still, he encouraged optimism in an unstable moment — one that has hit him especially hard as the Washington Post, where he spent eight years and won 11 Pulitzer Prizes, laid off nearly half its staff.
“We will get through this really difficult period,” he said. “It’s heartening that a solid majority appreciates that free expression is an essential right that belongs, not to any one party or group, but to every one of us.”
At an IU journalism symposium Feb. 26, Baron reiterated the importance of the First Amendment and the need for journalists to follow the mission: to hold government leaders accountable.
“If we do not investigate when evidence demonstrates grave wrongdoing, we failed in our duty to the public, and we betrayed the First Amendment,” he said. “The rights articulated there mean nothing if we do not exercise them.”
Though he painted a bleak picture of the pressures weighing on journalists, he said the First Amendment provides a framework through this moment. The country has survived several dark periods in its history, he said, and it will persevere through this one.
He pointed to his career’s work as evidence of the impact that good journalism can have on the country. He gave examples of how that work resulted in intense vitriol and personal attacks but remains protected by the First Amendment.
Baron is perhaps best known for leading The Boston Globe’s “Spotlight” investigation into the Catholic Church’s coverup of widespread child sexual abuse. As executive editor at the Washington Post, he also led coverage on Edward Snowden’s leaks unveiling mass government surveillance and the 2021 insurrection of the U.S. Capitol. Earlier in his career, at the Miami Herald, he oversaw coverage of the Bush-Gore “hanging chads” presidential election recount in Florida. Under his leadership, those newsrooms won 18 Pulitzer Prizes.
Baron spoke at length about U.S. President Donald Trump, who he said is abusing his power and is being emboldened by Congress and the U.S. Supreme Court.
“I feel certain that we have not yet seen the limits to abuse of the immense power in his possession,” he said. “He sees the reach of his authority as unlimited, and no senior official in his administration is willing to push back on grounds of unconstitutionality or immorality.”
He said “faint-hearted owners are shamefully failing to defend the rights that gave rise to their businesses and sustained our democracy.” His comment was a nod toward Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos. Baron recently said the Amazon founder’s “sickening efforts” at the Post are a way to curry favor with the Trump administration.
While at the Post, Baron led a period of massive growth that nearly doubled its staff of journalists to 1,000. However, rounds of layoffs, including an especially expansive one in early February, has plummeted staffing back to pre-2013 numbers when he took over as editor. Baron retired in 2021.
Bezos has been repeatedly criticized, including by Baron, for decisions that critics say have hurt the Post’s profits and are intended to appease Trump. In a scathing letter, Baron called Bezos’ recent behavior “a case study in near-instant, self-inflicted brand destruction.”
As for facing this current pressures, Barron repeatedly asked the crowd of student, journalists, professors and community members to reflect on chief First Amendment author James Madison’s quote about the press’s right of “freely examining public characters and measures.” He said the phrase motivated his viral remarks during the first Trump administration, saying, “We are not at war with the administration. We are at work.”
The truly distinguished newspapers will dare to face public wrath and displeasure, he said. If journalists bow to pressure, he said corruption will become commonplace, and politicians will become more powerful.
“We should worry about the freedom to express opinions and feeling, but we should not lose sight of the ultimate goal of political leaders who aim to suppress speech,” he said. “Their goal is to extinguish all independent arbiters with fact. The press is among them, so are judges, scientists, scholars, government, statisticians, and many others.”
The USA TODAY Network – Indiana’s coverage of First Amendment issues is funded through a collaboration between the Freedom Forum and Journalism Funding Partners.
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This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Marty Baron talks Trump, ‘faint-hearted’ media owners at IU
