MSNBC’s staggering lack of self-awareness was in rare form Thursday. That night on The 11th Hour, Marty Baron, former executive editor of The Washington Post, opined on the Post’s recent espousal of personal liberty and free market views. Baron was outraged that the paper had taken positions he happened to dislike, and called the move “undemocratic,” suggesting, ironically, that the free press was in danger.
Ruhle began with the heavy pronouncement, “It is a challenging time to be a journalist in America.” She then explained that the previous day Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos had adopted a new policy of endorsing “personal liberties and free markets” in the paper’s opinion section. “What do you make of what’s happening right now(…)?” she asked Baron.
Baron nebulously said he was “very concerned about it because of what it represents.” “I actually don't know any columns that ran in The Washington Post that were against personal liberties,” he huffed, not explaining what the problem was.
He then claimed that it was somehow a form of “cancel culture” of “liberal opinions,” which sounded like a tacit admission that liberal opinions were antithetical to personal liberties.
Baron went on to imply that the press was becoming a propaganda wing of the Trump administration, claiming America was following in the footsteps of Hungary, where he alleged Prime Minister Viktor Orban to be an “aspiring autocrat,” who had “marginalized the independent press there, and limited its reach.” “[T]hat's exactly what this administration is trying to do,” he added.
Ruhle asked Baron what the future of American journalism might look like, claiming that many journalists were now “[W]aking up scared. They're scared to do their jobs, they're scared they're going to get fired, they're scared they're going to get sued, they're scared the government is going to go after them, just for being journalists.”
“Well, we need to keep doing our job. That's why we have an independent press in this country,” Baron declared, calling it the founders’ “original assignment” for them:
That is exactly why the founders of this country wanted to have an independent press. It is, in my view, the original assignment that was given to the press in this country. And I think that remains our assignment today, and we need to continue doing that job.
It was pretty rich, and quite noticeable, that Baron was invoking the constitutional right to free speech to attack Bezos and The Washington Post’s exercise of that very right, in the political positions they had chosen to endorse. In fact, he was calling their exercise of their constitutional right “undemocratic,” and a threat to that very same constitutional right.
Of course, absent from Baron’s bloviating about an “independent press” was the Post employees’ protest over Bezos’s order to not endorse a candidate for president.
Baron, though, appeared oblivious to his own logical incoherence, and to all appearances Ruhle didn’t notice, either. As though Baron had offered some profound words of wisdom, she gushed, “Marty, I am so glad you joined us tonight. I really appreciate it.”
To view full transcript, click "expand" to read:
MSNBC’s The 11th Hour
02/27/2025
11:39 PM[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: BEZOS OVERHAULS WASHINGTON POST OPINION SECTION]
STEPHANIE RUHLE: It is a challenging time to be a journalist in America.
This week, The Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos revealed its opinion section will now be dedicated to advocating for, quote, ‘personal liberties and free markets.’ Viewpoints opposing those topics, he says, will be left to be published by others.
The section's editor, David Shipley, reportedly spent weeks trying to convince Mr. Bezos to change his mind, but when he refused, David Shipley resigned.
Marty Baron, former executive editor- famed former executive editor- of The Washington Post, joins me now. He's the author of the book Collision of Power: Trump, Bezos, and The Washington Post.
Marty, you worked at the Post for nearly a decade, some of the most important, successful years. You once praised Jeff Bezos for how he stood up for the Post during your tenure. What do you make of what's happening right now, yesterday's move?
FORMER WASHINGTON POST EXECUTIVE EDITOR MARTY BARON: Well, I'm very concerned about it because of what it represents.
You know- Jeff talked about standing for personal liberties. I actually don't know any columns that ran in The Washington Post that were against personal liberties.
But the personal liberty that I often think about, is one that's embedded in the First Amendment, and that is free expression. And one of the ways that news organizations honored free expression and promoted public debate was to have a wide variety of opinions on their opinion pages.
And now Jeff Bezos is saying, ‘there will be a limited set of opinions on the opinion pages, in fact, it will be limited to opinions that are in line with my own.’ And I find that- basically undemocratic. It's a kind of a form of- cancel culture, actually- canceling liberal opinions.
And- I think that's against the- that runs counter to the heritage of The Washington Post, runs counter to the principles of The Wash- the long-standing principles of The Washington Post, and is really an undemocratic move on his part.
RUHLE: Let's talk about what's happening at the White House. Because, a week ago, the President tossed out the Associated Press for not calling it the ‘Gulf of America.’ Now, they want to handpick the press pool. What do you think of these moves?
[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: WHITE HOUSE SAYS IT WILL HANDPICK PRESS POOL, ABANDONING DECADES OF PRECEDENT]
BARON: Well, I actually expected the worst from this administration with regard to its posture toward the press. But I'm discovering that the worst is worse than I thought.
This is a constant attack on the press. It's an effort to marginalize an independent press, to undermine an independent press, to destroy its economic sustainability.
And- these are the kinds of moves that you see in- regimes- in- in autocratic regimes, or where some- the leader- is an aspiring autocrat. You can see this all around the world.
And you see- I think- that Trump is- modeling himself after Viktor Orban, in Hungary. And they have- not entirely destroyed an independent- independent press, but they've certainly marginalized the independent press there, and limited its reach. And I think that's exactly what this administration is trying to do.
RUHLE: So how should the White House Correspondents’ Association, how should the news media respond to this? Right?
Yesterday I spoke to a member of Trump's first administration, and he said the most important hour of Donald Trump's day is when he talks to the press. If- if the White House press pool didn't show up for a week, it would be worse for Trump than it would be for them.
But if they were to make a move like that, that is a scary game of chicken, given how important it is to cover this White House. What should they do?
BARON: Yeah, it's really hard.
You know, this is an administration that constantly talks about how the traditional press is ‘irrelevant,’ and yet they're completely obsessed about the traditional press, which would suggest to you that we're not irrelevant, that they care a lot about what we do, because the reporting really matters and it can have a big impact, and it still does.
How to respond to this is a really difficult thing. Certainly, I think we should have the spirit of ‘one for all, all for one.’ I don't know that that necessarily means we have to boycott events and pull reporting on- on Trump. But- I do think that the news organizations that are covering Trump should share all of their information, all of their video, all of their still images, everything that they have, among themselves, and say that if any one of us is excluded, they get all of the material from all of us.
And- that that- they need to get beyond the idea of just being completely competitive, and say that we're all standing together.
RUHLE: What's your message to journalists?
Or- or where do you think the news media is headed? You spent decades in it, and right now people are waking up scared. They're scared to do their jobs, they're scared they're going to get fired, they're scared they're going to get sued, they're scared the government is going to go after them, just for being journalists.
BARON: Well, we need to keep doing our job. That's why we have an independent press in this country.
Keep in mind- that- we have the First Amendment, and why we- and I think it's important to keep in mind why we have the First Amendment. And James Madison, one of our founders, was the principal author of the First Amendment, and when he talked about it, he talked about the need for freely examining public characters and measures.
And I emphasize the word ‘examining'. Examining means that we are not stenographers, that we have to go beyond that, we need to look behind the curtain and beneath the surface, and we need to hold the powerful to a- to account.
That is exactly why the founders of this country wanted to have an independent press. It is, in my view, the original assignment that was given to the press in this country. And I think that remains our assignment today, and we need to continue doing that job.
We need to report, we need to dig, we need to find out what is happening in government, we need to know what powerful individuals and powerful institutions are doing, and we need to tell the public as straightforwardly and as directly and as frankly as we possibly can, what we've learned to be true.
RUHLE: Marty, I am so glad you joined us tonight. I really appreciate it.
BARON: Thanks very much for having me.
