On Friday, former Washington Post Executive Editor Martin Baron appeared on their Washington Post Live video channel to promote his new book on leading the Post in the Trump years. NewsBusters Editor at Large Brent Baker created some video tweets to underline the most newsworthy answers.
The first was Baron implying that any interview with Donald Trump is a big mistake. The CNN town hall was a mistake, the NBC Meet the Press interview was a mistake. It's just "giving him a platform" and "he controls the conversation."
Anyone watching these knows that the interviewer is much tougher than the average politician (especially the average Democrat). He "controls the conversation" far less. It's just that he keeps pushing and interrupting, including when interviewers like Welker insist the Democrats aren't for abortions at any point in a pregnancy (they are, check the platform).
In essence, he's saying if the press can't "win" -- and damage Trump -- than Trump shouldn't be granted any air time.
“Terrible mistake” – ex @WashingtonPost top editor @PostBaron (Marty Baron) re CNN town hall with Trump and NBC’s @MeetThePress interview of Trump. “Really big mistakes....Doing an interview with him like that is just giving him a platform, he controls the conversation” #PostLive pic.twitter.com/m2NkI2RA3u
— Brent Baker 🇺🇦 (@BrentHBaker) October 6, 2023
Baron insisted that reporters should be doing the work of figuring out who's going to be in Trump's cabinet this time around, which is very preliminary. Naturally, Baron expects the worst in a second term: "Clearly, it would be a vengeance tour. I mean, he would be targeting the Department of Justice, the FBI, the press, courts, you name it."
No one gets to ask Baron what it was The Post was doing to Trump. It could be argued it was a "vengeance tour" on behalf of Hillary Clinton. Baron's setting up a narrative, not a news story.
Before Trump was even inaugurated, the leftist press was taking up Hillary's sore-loser allegation that Trump only won through collusion with the Russians. Hillary's campaign funded the infamous "Steele dossier" through former British spy Christopher Steele, which ended up being a discredited pile of gossip. But it was a major fire-starter in the Russian collusion hoax.
Baron expressed mild regret that the Post didn't at some point realize it was untrue. But even now Baron claimed "I can't say it's been discredited, it just hasn't been proven." Well, the standard used to be that until it was proven, you didn't put it in the paper. That wasn't the way the Collusion Corps operated.
Marty @PostBaron (ex WashPost editor) regrets after realizing Steele Dossier was baseless, “we didn’t step back and say, ok, well, maybe this thing just is not true and then really take a hard look at Steele himself.” #PostLive But: Not “discredited, it just hasn’t been proven.” pic.twitter.com/UGL0j6nNm7
— Brent Baker 🇺🇦 (@BrentHBaker) October 6, 2023
Finally, Baron expressed the need for "diversity" in the newsroom -- in race and ethnicity and "life experience" and geography and even military service. He didn't express the need for conservatives in the newsroom. Maybe he's the average liberal who imagines that adding conservatives is like adding misinformation and prejudice.
Marty @PostBaron ex @WashingtonPost top editor touts “diversity,” doesn’t mention ideological diversity. Cites “racial diversity, ethnic diversity, diversity of life experience,” where people grew up, kinds of colleges, “geographic diversity... served in the military” #PostLive pic.twitter.com/zCdZ8CI96E
— Brent Baker 🇺🇦 (@BrentHBaker) October 6, 2023
It would be fun to see Baron try and answer some more challenging questions on Fox News...or on the NewsBusters Podcast. The invitation is open!
