Martin Baron, editor, The Boston Globe, says the newspaper has a key role because “people need to know the facts because we ask them to be citizens.” To succeed, Baron says, newspapers need to continue “to provide value … tell [people] clearly what is going on in this community … and hold powerful interests accountable. And our intent is to continue to do that.”

Martin Baron, editor, The Boston Globe, says The Globe’s reporting staff is required to read the newspaper’s ethical code and sign it when they are employed. The Globe also has strict standards to control reader comments on the web: no comments are posted on “personal tragedy stories, funerals or obituaries.” He says these standards were established because, “We are trying to tame the Wild West.” And, on sensitive stories, “The risks that people are going to go off the reservation are too high.”

Martin Baron, editor, The Boston Globe, says, “we are in a new business” at The Globe today. “We are a true multi-media news operation,” says Baron. “The web and the newspaper are equal.” Now reporters and editors, “are constantly thinking about the web and posting throughout the day.”

Martin Baron, editor, The Boston Globe, says the Boston Globe boosted its individual copy prices ($1 daily inside Route 128; $1.50 outside) and lost print circulation numbers. But “it does not mean fewer people are reading our journalism.” Through its newspaper and its website, The Globe claims it has 50 percent market penetration, giving it the largest readership in its history. Baron says, there may be “some psychic impact to see the circulation [numbers] decline, but we have to get over that.”

Martin Baron, editor, The Boston Globe, says, “Media writ large is growing like crazy.” As for journalism students, he recommends they understand “how money gets made” in the news media, because as professional reporters, they will “not be able to ignore it.”