#marty-baron — Public Fediverse posts

The #WashingtonPost laid off nearly one-third of its staff, including its sports department and local news team, in a move that has raised #concerns about the newspaper’s future. Former executive editor #MartyBaron attributes the layoffs to owner #JeffBezos’s desire to appease #DonaldTrump and protect his other businesses, Amazon and Blue Origin. https://www.theguardian.com/media/2026/feb/05/mass-layoffs-washington-post?eicker.news #tech #media #news

📰 Visitamos la redacción de #ElDiarioVasco hoy con estudiantes del grado, para escuchar con interés a #MartyBaron hablar del papel del #periodismo y su relación con el poder: «hoy más que nunca hace falta esa labor de utilidad, de cercanía, que aporta el periodismo, cada vez más necesaria en nuestra sociedad».

Una ocasión para reencontrarnos también con antiguos estudiantes y colegas!

…[#MartyBaron said], #Bezos’ closer proximity to #Trump at the inauguration & through #Amazon’s production deal on a #MelaniaTrump documentary did not appear to fulfill his public goal of increasing the #WashingtonPost’s independence. “It was a sign of dependence, not independence—the dependence of Amazon, #BlueOrigin & Bezos on Donald Trump," he wrote.

#MafiaState #kleptocracy #FourthEstate #journalism #media #FreePress #censorship #propaganda #trumpaganda #ViewPointDiscrimination #law #USpol

“There is no doubt in my mind that he is doing this out of #fear of the consequences for his other business interests, #Amazon (the source of his #wealth) & #BlueOrigin (which represents his lifelong passion for space exploration),” #MartyBaron wrote Wednesday. “He has prioritized those commercial interests over The Post, & he is betraying The Post’s longstanding #principles to do so.”

#Bezos #WashingtonPost #MafiaState #kleptocracy #FourthEstate #journalism #Trump #law #USpol

“It was only weeks ago that The Post described itself as providing coverage for ‘all of America,’” #MartyBaron wrote in his statement. “Now its opinion pages will be open to only some of America, those who think exactly as he does.”

…Baron also accused #Bezos of acquiescing to #Trump & the his attacks on the #press for his own business interests.

#MafiaState #kleptocracy #FourthEstate #journalism #media #FreePress #censorship #propaganda #trumpaganda #ViewPointDiscrimination #law #USpol

#MartyBaron — played by Liev Schriber in Oscar-winning movie Spotlight—served as the paper’s executive editor from early 2013, months before #Bezos purchased the Post, through to early 2021. He documented his relationship w/the #Amazon founder in his book Collision of Power: Trump, Bezos, & the #WashingtonPost.

In his statement, Baron wondered how Bezos’ support for personal liberties squared with his mandate for limited views on the #opinion pages.

#FourthEstate #journalism #Trump #law #USpol

#Bezos said on Wed he would mandate the paper’s #opinions section to focus on supporting #FreeMarkets & #PersonalLiberties, saying those pieces w/opposing views can “be left to be published by others.”

The move was rebuked by current & former #WashingtonPost staffers, though it was praised in a trolling post by #Trump’s WH.

#MartyBaron #FourthEstate #journalism #media #FreePress #censorship #propaganda #trumpaganda #ViewPointDiscrimination #law #USpol

Legendary #WashingtonPost Editor, #MartyBaron, Slams #Bezos for ‘Betraying’ Paper with #MAGA Makeover

Fmr WaPo executive editor Marty Baron condemned #JeffBezos’ revamp of the paper’s #opinions section in a statement to the Daily Beast, saying he was “sad & disgusted” by the #billionaire’s demands.

#FourthEstate #journalism #media #FreePress #censorship #propaganda #trumpaganda #ViewPointDiscrimination #Trump #law #USpol
https://www.thedailybeast.com/ex-wapo-editor-marty-baron-sad-and-disgusted-at-bezos-opinions-overhaul/

Maraniss said: “I find this contemptible. #MartyBaron is right. This is an act not of benign neutrality but of #cowardice in the face of the biggest challenge to #democracy in our post-WWII lifetimes.

“#BenBradlee, ten years dead, is mightily p---ed in his grave.”

#democracy #FourthEstate #journalism #media #acquiescence #WaPo #WashingtonPost

“This is #cowardice, a moment of darkness that will leave #democracy as a casualty. Donald Trump will celebrate this as an invitation to further intimidate The Post’s owner, #JeffBezos (& other media owners),” former Post executive editor #MartyBaron, who led the paper while #Trump was president, said in a text message to The Post. “History will mark a disturbing chapter of #spinelessness at an institution famed for courage.”

#democracy #FourthEstate #journalism #media #WashingtonPost #WaPo

“This is #cowardice, w/ #democracy as its casualty,” #MartyBaron said in a post…. He added that #Trump would see it as an invitation to continue to try to intimidate #JeffBezos. “Disturbing #spinelessness at an institution famed for courage.”

#WaPo’s move follows unfurling tumult at The #LATimes, where the head of the editorial board & 2 of its writers have resigned this week to protest the decision by the owner, the #billionaire #PatrickSoonShiong, to block a planned presidential #endorsement.

The #WashingtonPost’s editorial writers had already drafted an #endorsement of VP #KamalaHarris for president….

#WaPo’s editorial board had contacted the #Harris campaign & the #Trump campaign to request interviews ahead of its decision to endorse…. Harris declined the interview & the Trump campaign didn’t respond….

WaPo’s decision drew immediate blowback on social media, including from #MartyBaron, the recent editor of WaPo who led the paper through a period of editorial & business success.