Submitted by Maggie Lohmann

 

On the evening of Monday, June 19, The Washington Post executive editor Martin “Marty” Baron received the 2017 Al Neuharth Award for Excellence in the Media at the Newseum in Washington, D.C. Among those in attendance at the awards dinner were two Bridgeport High School graduates, Maggie Lohmann and Doug Soule.

 

The award, named in honor of USA Today, Freedom Forum, and Newseum founder Al Neuharth, was first presented in 1989 to Walter Cronkite. Since then, the award has been presented annually to honor lifetime achievement in the media industry. Baron became the 31^st recipient of the award, sponsored by the Newseum, Freedom Forum, and University of South Dakota—Neuharth’s alma mater.  

 

Baron was named executive editor at The Miami Herald in 2000 and moved to the Boston Globe in 2001. While there, he worked on improving the paper’s local reporting. As a result, he led a team of reporters to uncover the sexual abuse scandal in the Catholic church within the city of Boston. This work earned a Pulitzer Prize in 2003 and was the subject of the motion picture “Spotlight,” which won the 2016 Academy Award for Best Picture. In 2013, Baron became executive editor of The Washington Post and has held that position since.He also held editorial positions at The New York Times and the Los Angeles Times and among newsrooms under Baron’s guidance, 12 Pulitzer Prizes have been won.  

 

Baron’s award was presented by Knight Foundation President and CEO Alberto Ibargüen, who spoke about hiring Baron at The Miami Herald. During his acceptance speech, Baron discussed the work he has done throughout his career, as well as the importance of journalists uncovering the facts. He said, “Powerful individuals and institutions must be held accountable, and it’s the news organization’s job to do that. It’s not enough to report conflicting versions of the truth; we need to find out the truth for ourselves.”

 

The dinner was held as part of the 2017 Al Neuharth Free Spirit and Journalism Conference. The program brings a rising high school senior from each state and Washington D.C. to the nation’s capital to expose them to different aspects of media and journalism careers. Lohmann and Soule were West Virginia representatives in 2015 and 2016, respectively. Alumni of the Free Spirit program were invited to DC to participate in a meet-and-greet session with 2017 scholars and attend the awards ceremony.

 

Last year, Lohmann had the opportunity to come back to attend the awards dinner honoring Chris Berman of ESPN. This year, in addition to hearing from the speakers at the awards presentation, Lohmann and Soule were able to learn from current and former Free Spirit scholars at the meet-and-greet activity. It allowed them to network with scholars who are in the workforce and ask questions about internship, college, and career opportunities.

 

Whether those in attendance are engaged in journalism as their career or not, the speakers left no doubt of the important role journalism and free speech plays in the lives of the country’s citizens. Near the conclusion of his speech, Baron reflected on how journalism has impacted his life when he said, “I chose journalism as a career 41 years ago. Today I know this. I could not have made a better choice.”    

 

Along with Ibargüen and Baron, speakers at the dinner included University of South Dakota President James W. Abbott, Al Neuharth’s daughter and Chair and CEO of the Freedom Forum Jan Neuharth, Chief Operating Officer of the Newseum Institute and Senior Vice President of the First Amendment Center Gene Policinski, and President and CEO of the Newseum and Newseum Institute Jeffery Herbst.  

 

According to an article on the Newseum’s website, Policinski said, “We are honored to present Marty Baron with this award, which recognizes his career as a journalist devoted to uncovering truth and asking the tough questions. The new Washington Post motto declares ‘Democracy Dies in Darkness,’ and it is journalists like Marty on whom we all depend to provide light.”

 

Editor's Note: Pictured first, Maggie Lohmann and Doug Soule at the award ceremony, in the second photo, Maggie Lohmann with other members of the 2015 Free Spirit class in attendance. In the last photo is Maggie Lohmann with Marty Baron.