Esteemed journalist Martin Baron made an appearance at Skidmore College on April 7 in the Zankel Music Center for a Q&A. Skidmore’s very own faculty including Deputy Chief Diversity Officer Anita Jack-Davies, Sociology Professor Andrew Lindner, English Professor Linda Hall, and Political Science Professor Ron Seyb interviewed Baron. Baron recently retired in February of 2021 from his latest position as editor of The Washington Post, after almost five decades working in the field of journalism from his initial work with The Miami Herald upon graduating from Lehigh University in 1976.
Baron held many editing positions and writing jobs in other publications such as The New York Times and The Los Angeles Times, and a highlight of his work lies in his investigation with The Boston Globe of the sexual abuse cover-up by clergymen in the Boston Catholic church. This investigation, which Baron oversaw, won a Pulitzer Prize in 2003 and was later turned into a film titled, “Spotlight” (2015) starring Mark Ruffalo, Michael Keaton, Rachel McAdams, and Liev Schreiber who played Baron.
After Professor Linda Hall’s introduction of Martin Baron, the questions began rolling with Anita Jack-Davies asking Baron about imagery in the media. She spoke about the common trend of Black and Brown people being depicted in unfavorable ways when reported about, which has the effect of villainizing these individuals’ race and perpetuating racial discrimination. There are several instances where a white man who was convicted of a crime or arrested is shown through a professional graduation photo, while Black men often simply have their mugshots in print or in the news. Jack-Davies asked Baron, “Who selects the images? How does that process work?”
Baron affirmed that this is a relevant issue and that there are specific photo editors that are responsible for the photos that are presented, like at the Boston Globe for example. “Reporters may not consciously think further about what they’re using for the articles as they’re trying to get the story up before their competition,” said Baron.
A follow up question about representation in the media was brought up by Hall who raised the inquiry about “missing white woman syndrome,” which addresses the trend of young white, upper middle class women who seem to be most represented in the media when they are missing, opposed to individuals who also may be missing but do not share those identities. Baron asserted that the cases are supposed to be treated equally, but aren’t always.
He expressed that being in the field of journalism, there is an importance of being “open.” While this is often conflated with the idea of neutrality, Baron further explains that the concept of objectivity is necessary: to go into a story not assuming you know the answers but assessing with the facts to come to an ultimate “truth.” “Go out and learn. Do some research. Do some real work. Be as scientific as possible,” he said. Baron described the journalistic objective truth approach as a methodology, comparing it to being a judge in a court, using facts to assess the truth.
Baron discussed the impact of Donald Trump as president on journalism, as Trump challenged politics and broke norms in such a way that provoked newspapers and editorials to admit that the nation’s own president was spreading lies. The usage of the term “lie” was not popularly used before as it came off as informal in journalistic writing; “the use of the word would draw people to it instead of the facts,” revealed Baron. Traditionally, writers would rather state that Trump’s accusations of something are “false”; however, with a president tweeting so frequently about things that were unauthorized or entirely incorrect, news sources couldn’t simply ignore him or condone his behavior at the risk of spreading his “fake news.”
The audience members were invited to indulge further into non-prepped questions for Baron. “Did the [period] of objectivity really exist?” a student asked. Baron responded saying that it relatively existed in the way in which there weren’t such polarizing views and opposition to those who think differently as can be seen today, lightly touching upon “cancel culture.” However, Baron made it aware that the field of journalism in the 20th century was predominantly made up of white males, therefore this objectivity inherently had some ignorance.
“Bury it in the metro!” is a quote Hall cited as part of the movie “Spotlight,” uttered by Baron’s character. Baron explained that metro or “page 12” is where people are least likely to look at news stories. Hall introduced this occurrence to address the fact that some stories that are important are buried in the metro and not on the front page. This was restated later in an audience question asking “How do you balance morality versus financial of burying stories in the metro?” “The media is a business,” Baron reminded us as he stated that we must take into account the commercial considerations that exist, to be able to sustain these newspaper publications. Ultimately, he says, “credibility is the most important thing for a media outlet.” He echoed The Washington Post’s slogan, “Democracy Dies in Darkness,” which was created in 2017 and emphasizes that the purpose of their newspaper is to metaphorically “shine a light into dark corners.”
Through experience, Baron let the audience know that democracy starts at the most local levels. He says that local issues are just as relevant and important as national news in some ways; for example the Flint Water Crisis in Flint, Michigan or the Boston local court case of priests.
The Skidmore and local Saratoga community displayed gratitude for having been able to have a dialogue with Martin Baron about politics, journalism, and overall human behavior with his rich background in the field.