Martin Baron, Former Executive Editor of The Washington Post

Join the IOP as we welcome former executive editor of The Washington Post Martin Baron for a live taping of The Axe Files podcast. Baron joins IOP director David Axelrod to discuss Baron’s remarkable 45 years in journalism.

A titan of print journalism, Baron worked for The Miami Herald, The Los Angeles Times, The Boston Globe, and The New York Times in senior roles before taking the reins at the Post. Newspapers overseen by Baron have received a remarkable 17 Pulitzer Prizes. While Baron was executive editor of The Boston Globe in 2003, the paper was recognized with a Pulitzer for its exposure of the Catholic Church sex abuse scandal. That investigation inspired the 2015 Oscar-winning film Spotlight in which Baron is portrayed by Liev Schreiber. While Baron led The Washington Post, the newspaper earned 10 Pulitzers, nearly doubled the number of journalists on staff, and grew its digital audience to 3 million subscribers. He oversaw an exhaustive fact-check of the Trump Administration, tallying 30,573 false or misleading claims over President Trump's term. In 2021, Baron stepped down after eight years as executive editor of The Washington Post.

This event is dedicated to the memory of David S. Broder, another titan of journalism whose career began at The University of Chicago, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in 1947 and a master’s in 1951. Known for his ability to cut through the noise of punditry and spin, Broder framed his campaign coverage by looking beyond the political machine, turning public attention to voters whose voices might otherwise be drowned out. His columns on the Watergate scandal, written in the familiar, professorial style that inspired his nickname “Dean of the Press Corps,” earned him the 1973 Pulitzer Prize for commentary. He passed away in 2011, having established a legacy of integrity and professionalism. The IOP is proud to know the Broder family as both benefactors and friends.