Collision of Power
Author: Martin Baron
Release: October 3, 2023
Tagline: Trump, Bezos, and the Washington Post
Publisher: Flatiron Books
Genre: Journalism, Democracy, Communication, Media
ISBN-10: 1250844207
ISBN-13: 978-1250844200
Declassified by Agent Palmer: The Intersection of New Tech and Solid Standards on Display in Collision of Power
Quotes and Lines
Our job was to report aggressively on the president and to hold his administration, like all others, to account. In the mind of the president and those in his orbit, that most fundamental journalistic obligation made us the opposition.
There were sweeping statements of philosophy. On nostalgia: “The death knell for any enterprise is to glorify the past, no matter how good it was.” On focus: “We shouldn’t put ourselves at the center. We shouldn’t put advertisers at the center. We should put readers in the center.” On growth: “You can be profitable and shrinking. And that’s a survival strategy, but it ultimately leads to irrelevance, at best. And at worst, it leads to extinction.” On the lone genius (presumably addressing how he was perceived): “The myth of the lone genius who comes up with these ideas, sends them down, is just that: a myth. The reality is that great ideas, great strategies emerge.”
Newsrooms routinely suffer from a strong gravitational pull back toward what used to be at the expense of what needs to be.
I could not be Bradlee. I did not try. We were starkly different in personality, and journalism had changed radically since he retired as executive editor in 1991. I was periodically asked whether I was intimidated by his legacy. Intimidated, no; inspired, yes. As far back as the early 1970s, when I was an aspiring journalist in college, I had observed his fierce independence and courage. The principles stayed with me.
From the moment Bezos acquired The Post, he had made clear that its historic journalistic mission was at the heart of its business. It was refreshing. I had been in our field long enough to witness some executives–unmoored by crushing pressures on circulation, advertising, and profits–cutting the cord with our journalistic culture, even shunning the vocabulary we used to describe our work. Many publishers took to calling journalism “content,” a term so hollow that I sarcastically advised substituting “stuff.” Journalists were recategorized as “content producers,” top editors retitled “chief content officers.” Bezos was a different breed.
But no more than one enraged zealot is required to inflict tragic harm.
Deliberativeness isn’t cowardice; it’s a guardrail against the perils of impulsiveness.
Journalism is not for the faint of heart.