Martin Baron on Jeff Bezos, the Post, and the role of presidential endorsements

The Kicker

Martin Baron was the executive editor of the Washington Post from 2013 until his retirement, in 2021—which meant he was there for the arrival of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos as owner and publisher of the paper.

He’s long praised Bezos for taking a firm line against any interference with the paper’s journalism, but Bezos’s sudden decision, announced last week, to torpedo the paper’s planned endorsement of Kamala Harris was a bridge too far. In a post on X, Baron described the move as an act of “cowardice” and “spinelessness.”

Baron joins The Kicker to speak about his intense reaction to the decision, what he thinks has changed with Bezos—and whether it might be time for papers to retire the presidential endorsement anyway.

Read more:

Baron’s original statement on the Post’s decision

Bezos’s op-ed explaining why he pushed to deep-six the endorsement

A Post news team article investigating the ties Bezos’s companies have to the government—and to a potential second Trump administration
Hosted by Josh Hersh
Produced by Amanda Darrach