WASHINGTON – The Washington Post's executive editor Marty Baron, who led the newspaper to multiple awards amid a transition to the digital era, announced his retirement yesterday.
Baron, 66, presided over a vast expansion of the Post newsroom and several investigations of former president Donald Trump as the paper adapted to the ownership of billionaire Jeff Bezos, who bought the daily in 2013.
"Under Marty's eight years of newsroom leadership, The Washington Post has experienced a dramatic resurgence and has soared to new journalistic heights," publisher Fred Ryan said in a statement.
"As executive editor, he has significantly expanded our coverage areas, inspired great reporting, managed an awesome digital transformation and grown the number of readers and subscribers to unprecedented levels."
Baron's final day will be February 28. No replacement was announced.
Ryan noted that the newsroom under Baron grew from 580 journalists when he arrived to more than 1,000 this year.
"His leadership of the Post newsroom has earned global respect and has been recognized in many ways, including 10 Pulitzer Prizes," Ryan said.
Baron arrived at the Post in December 2012 from the Boston Globe, where his team led an investigation into sex abuse by Catholic clergy that was dramatized in the 2015 Oscar-winning film Spotlight.
"From the moment I arrived at the Post, I have sought to make an enduring contribution while giving back to a profession that has meant so much to me and that serves to safeguard democracy," Baron wrote in a memo to staff.
The Pulitzers won by the Post in recent years included a 2019 award for an report on the impact of climate change and a 2017 investigation of Trump's misleading claims on his charitable contributions.
Bezos offered praise for Baron, writing on Instagram: "Our success these past several years would not and simply could not have happened without you. You leave behind a newsroom that is bigger and stronger and more thoughtful than ever." – AFP, January 27, 2021
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