<em>WaPo's</em> Marty Baron Hangs Up on Evan Gahr, Later Apologizes

Our resident phone enthusiast and freelance investigative journalist Evan Gahr remains fierce in his pursuit to get WaPo to say why they won't cover a race and age discrimination lawsuit brought against them by a sales employee. On Tuesday he phoned the Grand Poobah over at WaPo: Executive Editor Marty Baron. And guess what happened? Surprise! Baron hung up on him. WaPo's top editor wouldn't be the first editor or reporter to hang up on Gahr in recent weeks. The list, at this point, is growing longer and includes WaPo's Erik Wemple, Kevin Merida, Steven Mufson and more. Before he hung up, Baron told Gahr to email him, which he did. Baron then apologized for hanging up on him. Gahr explained to FishbowlDC, "I just called him now, figuring correctly that he would answer his own phone since his secretary would have left for the day." The time: 6:10 p.m. His version of the conversation: Marty Baron: Marty Baron Evan Gahr: Hi. This is Evan. That was a great story you did on the front page about the EEOC suing BMB for race discrimination. But I was wondering why it is a front page story when the EEOC sues BMB but it is not a story when the Washington Post gets sued for race discrimination. Marty Baron: I don't know what you're talking about. I don't know who you are. Evan Gahr: The Washington Post is being sued for race discrimination. Why haven't you reported that? Marty Baron: I don't know who you are. You'll have to send me an email. Gahr emoted to FishbowlDC about the exchange, saying, "I don't know who you are? Does it really matter whether I'm a baby chimp who just learned to speak or a reporter from the New York Times? He had just been informed that the Washington Post is being sued. He claimed (feigned?) ignorance and displayed zero interest in finding out more." Later, the email exchange An excerpt from Gahr's note to Baron at 6:23 p.m. You used the excuse of not knowing who I am to hang up on me when I asked whey you have not reported that the Washington Post was sued for race discrimination this July. ...Why were you in such a rush to get off the phone? No, I am not a baby chimp. For whatever it's worth--I am a former press critic for the late New York Post editorial page editor Eric Breindel and a former reporter for the Washington Times magazine and was also fired by the Hudson Institute and blacklisted by AEI because the Washington Post quoted me calling Paul Weyrich "a demented anti-Semite" for saying the Jews killed Christ. I reported exclusively in a freelance opinion piece for a conservative website that the Washington Post is being sued for race discrimination by a black advertisement department employee fired after his white boss shrieked at him out of the blue. The lawsuit claims 18 older blacks were fired in a two year period. I did a follow-up for FrontPagemag.com last week on the refusal by the Washington Post to cover the story. Kevin Merida told me on September 12 he would look into the story but he did not even talk to Paul Farhi or Steven Mufson about it. Steven Mufson told me last week that the editors decided they would not cover the story. He then hung up on me. What did you know and when did you know it? Baron's response arrived at 6:38 p.m. Thank you for now identifying yourself fully and appropriately and explaining what you were calling about. I hung up because you didn’t explain fully who you were (just “Evan”) or what you were calling about and because I had work to do. I refer any matter that has to do with litigation involving the company to Kris Coratti, who handles communication for this organization. If you haven’t already, you should contact her. Which Washington journalist is next on Gahr's call list is anyone's guess. But Posties, you may want to run for cover.

Fishbowl

WaPo's Marty Baron Hangs Up on Evan Gahr, Later Apologizes

Betsy Rothstein

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