Marty Baron on Trump, the Media and Democracy: 'It’s already very late'
Ahead of his trip to Poland for our World News Media Congress, former Washington Post editor Marty Baron spoke to Mateusz Mazzini, Reporter-at-large at Gazeta Wyborcza, about America’s fragile democracy, a weakened media — and why time may be running out.
Mateusz Mazzini: I’ve been a journalist for 11 years. I became one because, when I was a kid, my mom told me about Woodward, Bernstein, The Washington Post, and Watergate. That kind of journalism — does it even exist anymore?
Marty Baron: There are no politicians like that anymore.
Related Knowledge Center: Democracy and politics
News organizations are scrambling to find a coverage approach that adequately informs the American public about the country’s slide from democracy to authoritarian rule.
Related Knowledge Center: The White House vs. the press
Whether it’s the Des Moines Register’s publication of an unfavorable election poll, a routine edit of a 60 Minutes interview with Kamala Harris, or the Associated Press’s decision in its authoritative stylebook to continue to use “Gulf of Mexico,” Donald Trump and the White House have used executive authority and legal reprisals in an effort to punish and suppress press coverage that runs contrary to the administration’s preferred narratives.
Democracy and politics | Signalgate | The CBS submission | Voiceless America