Intro

John is joined by Marty Baron to discuss the changes being wrought by Jeff Bezos at the Washington Post, where Baron served as executive editor from 2013 to 2021, and how the Fourth Estate is faring in the Trump 2.0 era. Baron explains his reaction (disgust, shock, fury) to Bezos's recent ban on opinions at odds with his own from the Post's op-ed pages; why that move and others by the paper's owner since Trump's reelection can only be interpreted as acts of obeisance; and how those actions undermine the Post’s credibility. Baron also argues that Team Trump’s decision to take control of the White House press pool, handpicking which reporters are granted close access to the president, is part of a broader effort—familiar from autocratic regimes around the world—to undermine and eventually eliminate the free and independent press in America.