‘Face to power’, by Martin Baron: chronicle of the war between politics, technology and the media

The memoirs of journalist Martin Baron about his years at the head of the newspaper Washington Post They are the least similar to memoirs. There is hardly a trace of him in them, except fleeting references to his uncontrollable hair, dour clothing, uncontrollable shyness, taciturn countenance and an aversion to the social life of the American capital, all combined with a determined and implacable character. . Only towards the final stretch of his mandate as director, which lasted between 2013 and 2021, do personal details emerge such as the uncontrollable nosebleeds of genetic inheritance and the regret over the growing rejection towards him among the editorial staff of his newspaper under accusations of insensitivity for its treatment of certain coverage related to the consequences of social movements such as Me Too and Black Lives Matter. In all those reproaches that were more ideological than factual, Baron always put facts before activism. And he paid a price for it. In exchange for the shield with which he has shielded his personality in In the face of power, Its more than 500 pages divided into 20 chapters constitute a lengthy chronicle of the open war between politics, technology and the media. And at the same time they are the twilight story of the last years of the author, now retired, as a newspaper editor.

The narrator is a direct witness of the documented events surrounding the plot about how a newspaper based in the world capital of power tried to face all the attacks and pressures imaginable during the years of the Trump era in the White House. Among all the invectives, the one that Baron is most responsible for dismantling is the recurring accusation of having run a newspaper in the service of tycoon Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon and owner of the post since he bought it for $250 million in 2013 following the financial capitulation of descendants of the Graham family. This acquisition took place shortly after Baron was appointed editor-in-chief of this load-bearing wall of journalism and American democracy, where he arrived after holding the same position in the Boston Globe. The label of sagacious newspaper director was backed by the successes under his supervision of the team spotlight which revealed the cover-up of sexual abuse by the clergy of the Massachusetts Catholic Church, as well as his previous work at the head of the Miami Herald where he covered events such as the adventures of the raft boy Elián González.

The story reveals the complexity of quickly adapting to the designs of a new owner, who at the time was the richest man in the world and leader of a gigantic technology company. Bezos was willing to remove the foundations of the post to take it into a new and prosperous era by strengthening editorial and digital subscriptions, in addition to propelling its influence throughout the national sphere and international public opinion. Baron and his editors got to work with the “runway” that Bezos provided them, consisting of succulent investments in human capital and means to multiply the reach of their content. The exclusives and global recognition arrived, but they were not able to anticipate the political phenomenon of Donald Trump, whom they began to investigate when he was already heading towards the White House as a Republican candidate. Once president, Trump declared war on the media, which he considered “the enemy of the American People.” On the collision of power embodied in Trump as president of the United States and Bezos as owner of Washington Post this book goes. Its original English title is indeed Collision of power. A duel between two alpha males in the midst of which Baron kept the focus on what journalism must mean for society: controlling power, including that of the owner of his newspaper. The latter is profusely portrayed in his decision-making process, in his way of putting ideas into action and in his position outside of editorial concerns.

This book is also about a time and a way of understanding journalism in the United States. From the kitchen of investigations such as the one that uncovered mass surveillance by the CIA and the US National Security Agency (NSA) to Russian interference in Hillary Clinton’s candidacy for the presidential elections and the assassination of journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi Arabian consulate in Istanbul. Before each event, the big question always hovers over: what role should a media outlet that aspires to be relevant to the society it serves play in this regard, how should news be published and when should it be stopped if the story leaves room? to any doubt.

There are also many reflections on the truth and former President Trump’s complex relationship with it. And about the difficult coexistence of the director of a media that seeks certainty with the chatter of journalists dedicated to information who at the same time spread their opinionated incontinence on the social network X, formerly Twitter. About the rectitude of the office. About what it means to be independent, even if it means always having the feeling that the guillotine will fall at any moment. There are a few lessons in this book for any journalist working, aspiring to be one, or leading an organization dedicated to publishing news.

Although they are united in having run the same newspaper, these memoirs are the antithesis of those written by the late Ben Bradlee, full of details about his exuberant personality. Bradlee combined in The life of a journalist (published in Spanish by Ediciones EL PAÍS, with the translation by Andrés Fernández Rubio and Irene Hernández Velasco) the passages of training as a reporter in Europe and the subsequent rise to the social and journalistic elite of Washington — without overlooking the mentions of sex and golden age of adultery in the second half of the last century—with the leadership of colleagues like Woodward and Bernstein, who under their imprint carried out the Watergate and they achieved the resignation of the cheating President Nixon. In the face of power, by Martin Baron, is something very different. He is also very different from Bradlee. And both of them were a very different time.

This professional testament shows a journalist capable of letting his principles fall in the face of incontrovertible facts. In front of everything and everyone. “My only fleeting dabble in politics was my senior year of high school, when I briefly volunteered for centrist Democratic Sen. Henry M. ‘Scoop’ Jackson’s 1972 primary campaign, which failed miserably in Florida,” Baron writes. . “I have never felt any affinity with any candidate, party or political movement and, in general, I have always been deeply suspicious of politicians. I have always considered myself totally independent. It seems to me that being on the sidelines makes sense and is important. And in the end, it turned out that it was.”

Martin Baron
Translation of José C. Vales
Book Sphere, 2024
552 pages. 25.90 euros

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