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A review by adkwriter15
Collision of Power: Trump, Bezos, and The Washington Post by Martin Baron
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
4.0
Let me start by saying that I enjoyed this book. Baron's writing style is concise and engaging, and I always wanted to keep going to learn more. Baron has been at the helm of newspapers during so many important moments - from being in Miami during the 2000 recount to being portrayed in the movie "Spotlight" during his time at the Boston Globe. He has a lot of knowledge to share, and a wide perspective. The details of how all that changed, evolved, and shifted with the changes to print media along with the Trump presidency were very interesting.
That being said, I do thing the title is misleading. It opens with the scene of Post editors at the White House, and makes a clear point that Trump was messing with Bezos/Amazon more than I realized, but this is more an autobiography of Baron's time at the Post where Trump and Bezos happen to also be involved. The epilogue is entirely about Baron's take on journalistic ethics - not simply because of the attack on truth, but more because of discontent in the Post's newsroom (which seems to have driven him to retire) about what objectivity means in journalism. That was also very fascinating to think about, although I am not and never had been a reporter, and is probably a deeply important conversation to have. Just know that this book is more about the collision of journalism with modern day issues rather than the collision of Trump and Bezos, and you'll be more set up for enjoyment.
That being said, I do thing the title is misleading. It opens with the scene of Post editors at the White House, and makes a clear point that Trump was messing with Bezos/Amazon more than I realized, but this is more an autobiography of Baron's time at the Post where Trump and Bezos happen to also be involved. The epilogue is entirely about Baron's take on journalistic ethics - not simply because of the attack on truth, but more because of discontent in the Post's newsroom (which seems to have driven him to retire) about what objectivity means in journalism. That was also very fascinating to think about, although I am not and never had been a reporter, and is probably a deeply important conversation to have. Just know that this book is more about the collision of journalism with modern day issues rather than the collision of Trump and Bezos, and you'll be more set up for enjoyment.