The Washington Post on Wednesday announced sweeping layoffs that affected nearly every corner of the 150-year-old newsroom. The company, owned by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, slashed one-third of its workforce and eliminated entire departments, including the paper’s sports desk.
Martin Baron, former executive editor of the Post, sat down with Jen Psaki on Wednesday’s “The Briefing” to discuss the layoffs and the state of free press under Donald Trump.
Baron reflected on when he first joined the Post in 2013. “It was a great news organization then,” he said, even as “it had faced many challenges.
“[Bezos] acquired the paper about a year after I had been there. He invested. He spoke on behalf of the mission of the Post. He spoke on behalf of the mission of the press in this country,” Baron said, adding that the paper “grew under the ownership” of Bezos.
However, Baron told MS NOW that Wednesday’s announcement “represents a turn back.”
“It suggests that this newspaper, with a deep heritage and historically high ambitions, is going to retreat,” he explained. “And it’s a terrible thing to see a news organization that’s been so important to the history of this country retreat the way that this newspaper is doing.”
As Baron noted, Bezos once championed the importance of a free press and defended the Post’s mission. When Psaki asked what had changed, the veteran journalist responded, “I explain it by saying the words ‘Donald Trump.’ That’s what happened.”
“Trump came into office again,” Baron said. “He had promised vengeance against his perceived political enemies. Jeff Bezos was seen as a political enemy by Donald Trump for one reason and one reason only, and that was the coverage of the Washington Post.”
Baron said that under his leadership, the paper had been “very aggressive” in its coverage of the president. “I think for good reason, because he was abusing his power as president,” Baron said. “So we sought out to document that, and we did document that, and that’s what a good news organization ought to do.”








