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MEDIA
Baron seeks ‘unpredictability’ and ‘edginess’

BY DAN KENNEDY

It’s Week One of the Marty Baron era at the Boston Globe. And though the new editor has taken a relatively low-key approach during his first few days on the job, he’s also made it clear that he intends to shake things up.

Baron spoke briefly to the troops in an informal newsroom setting on two occasions, on Monday at 2:30 p.m. and again on Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. His message, he says, was that the Globe is " a paper of enormous achievement and talent, and it also has enormous potential. "

He mentioned a few areas where he believes improvement is needed, telling his staff that he wants " unpredictability " and " edginess. " " I said that I wanted us to break news and break ground, " he told the Phoenix, adding that he wants to be " fully competitive with our major competitors, especially the [Boston] Herald, on any story of note. " In particular, he says he wants the Globe to be a national leader in covering what he calls " the medical-industrial complex " — the nexus of hospitals, government, and medical research that makes up an enormous part of Greater Boston’s economy and culture.

As for reports from inside sources that he told staffers the paper is too " soft " and " predictable, " he calls that characterization accurate " in a way, " but cautions, " I don’t think I issued some sort of broad criticism of the paper of any sort, but I think we need to do more in that regard. "

Even though staff members contacted by the Phoenix would not agree to be quoted, they say they found Baron, whose last stop was as the executive editor of the Miami Herald, to be relaxed and friendly, stopping people in the corridors and introducing himself.

Still, Baron, who replaces the just-retired Matt Storin, is the first outside editor the Globe has ever hired (see " Goodbye to All That, " News and Features, July 20), and people are understandably nervous. " Walking on eggshells " and " pins and needles " are just two of the phrases heard this week.

Comings and goings

Veteran Globe staff member Scot Lehigh has been officially named a twice-a-week op-ed-page columnist. Lehigh has been writing the column since last winter, when David Nyhan embarked on a fellowship at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. Nyhan retired last month.

Kennedy School lecturer Mickey Edwards, a former Oklahoma congressman, has stopped writing his weekly column for the Herald after recently coming under consideration to chair the Republican State Committee. He and editorial-page editor Rachelle Cohen cite that conflict of interest as the reason for his departure.

 

Issue Date: August 2 - 9, 2001






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