Marty Baron, prestigious director who led the rebirth of 'The Washington Post', announces his retirement

Marty Baron, a journalist gifted with enormous talent and flair, and editor under whose leadership

has become a leading global newspaper, has announced that he will retire on February 28.

Baron (Tampa, Florida, 66 years old) took the reins of the capital newspaper in January 2013. Months later, billionaire Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon, acquired the newspaper, trusted the director and gave him money to work.

When Baron arrived, in the middle of the first blows of the crisis of the traditional business model of the press, the

had 580 journalists and an uncertain future.

Today it has more than a thousand and is, in the words of the director himself, "well positioned for the future."

Under his leadership, the work of the newsroom has been recognized with no less than 10 Pulitzer Prizes and the newspaper continues to grow on a successful digital subscription model fueled by firsts and quality stories.

For the general public, however, Baron will be remembered in the anatomy of actor Liev Schreiber, who played the journalist in the Oscar-winning film

(Tom McCarthy, 2015).

The tape told the story of how the famous

investigative team

, under the direction of Baron himself, uncovered the scandal about the cover-up by the Massachusetts Catholic Church of sexual abuse by city priests.

“From the moment I came to the

, I have tried to make a lasting contribution while giving something back to the profession that has meant so much to me and that serves to safeguard democracy.

It has been an honor for me to work together with hundreds of journalists who make the

an indispensable institution, ”Baron wrote in a farewell letter sent to the editorial staff.

Baron announces his goodbye a week after Donald Trump, a president who (in addition to fighting an almost personal battle with Bezos), turned the critical press into a favorite enemy.

The attacks by the tycoon did not prevent the newsroom directed by Baron from uncovering important scandals of his presidency, among them, at the end of Trump's term, his calls to the electoral authorities of the State of Georgia in order to pressure them to try to “find 11,780 votes ”that reversed their defeat in the elections last November.

Already at the beginning of the Republican presidency, when there was talk of a Trump war against the media, Baron left a phrase for history: "We are not at war, we are working."

Baron's eight years at the

mark the culmination of a brilliant career that led him, from the south to the north of the east coast of the United States, to also direct

and

.

When it came to the

the newspaper that exposed the Watergate, which cost Nixon the presidency, was fighting to save its prestigious legacy from the blows of business model change.

The drop in print advertising, declining circulation and competition from native digital media had left the historic newspaper in a bad financial position.

In August 2013, eight months after Baron's arrival, Bezos bought the newspaper for $ 250 million.

The combination of Bezos's money and Baron's craft and vision has breathed new life into a newspaper that today, in addition to regaining prestige and influence, has more readers than ever.

The newspaper currently has three million digital subscribers, one million of which have joined this last year.

"The

is well positioned for the future, we have created a true national and international news organization," says Baron in his farewell letter.

“The 2021 newsroom will be the largest in history, an investment that signals overwhelming confidence in our prospects.

In short, the

has come a long way in a short period of time ”.

The editor of the newspaper, Fred Ryan, thanked Baron for being "considered in their plans", which will allow them to find "a suitable successor."

"The search will be broad and inclusive," Ryan explains, "taking into consideration outstanding internal candidates, as well as journalists from other publications with the vision and ability to build on Marty's success."