It's official: Marty Baron, the Boston Globe's top editor for the past 11 years, is heading to Washington, D.C., where he'll become executive editor of the Washington Post.
Rumors of Baron's move to Washington have been building for weeks — and were credible enough that we looked at his likely departure, and his legacy here in Boston, on last week's installment of Beat the Press.
http://video.wgbh.org/video/2302694585/
In September 2011, when Baron reached the ten-year mark at the Globe, WGBH's Emily Rooney spoke with him at length about his time at the paper and his relationship to the city of Boston. Their conversation offered some insight into Baron's journalistic philosophy and temperament, and is worth watching for anyone wondering what kind of editor he'll be at the Post.
http://video.wgbh.org/video/2304147445/
To say Baron led the Globe during a challenging period would be an understatement. The newspaper business changed radically and became far more difficult during his time in Boston. Baron also had to keep morale up in the face of a shutdown threat from the New York Times Company, the Globe's corporate parent. Yet the Globe maintained a high level of quality throughout — and won six Pulitzers to boot. Howie Kurtz has already said that Baron's hiring is a smart move for the Post. While Baron will be missed in Boston, it's hard to disagree.
