Civility in America Series: Martin Baron, Author of Collision of Power: Trump, Bezos, and the Washington Post

A conversation with Martin Baron, former executive editor of The Washington Post, and The Boston Globe, who will discuss his book Collision of Power: Trump, Bezos, and The Washington Post.

Book sale and signing by Elm Street Books.

Registration required.

Join the Zoom at 6:00pm HERE.

In his book, Baron recounts the period from when he 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 learned Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon, would buy The Post, marking a sudden end of control by the venerated family that had presided over the paper for 80 years. Just over two years later, Donald Trump won the presidency.

The capital’s newspaper, now 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 against the media.

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 describes 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.

Martin (Marty) Baron retired at the end of February 2021, after more than eight years as executive editor of The Washington Post. News staffs under his leadership have won 18 Pulitzer Prizes. The Post won 11 Pulitzers for coverage during his tenure that included the assault on the Capitol on January 6, 2021 and investigations of the National Security Agency and the presidential campaign of Donald Trump. While he was top editor of The Boston Globe, it won six Pulitzer Prizes, including for its investigation into the Catholic Church’s concealment of clergy sex abuse. That coverage was portrayed in the Academy Award-winning movie Spotlight.

Presented in partnership with The Dilenschneider Group and Hearst Connecticut Media Group.