Gerard Baker

For other people named Gerry Baker, see Gerry Baker (disambiguation).

Gerard Baker is a British writer and columnist who has been the managing editor of Dow Jones and editor-in-chief of the Wall Street Journal since March 1, 2013.[1]

Early life and education

Baker holds a degree in philosophy, politics and economics (first class honors) from Corpus Christi College, Oxford.[1][2][3] Baker is a British citizen.[4]

Career and political views

Baker's first job following graduation was at the Bank of England.[3][5] After working there for about a year, Baker moved to Lloyds Bank as a Latin America analyst.[5]

Baker worked for the BBC from 1988 to 1994, as a producer, then U.S. producer, and finally as economics correspondent for television and radio.[1] Baker worked for the Financial Times from 1994 to 2004, first as Tokyo correspondent and subsequently as Washington bureau chief (1998-2002) and chief U.S. commentator and an associate editor (2002-2004).[1] Following this, Baker became U.S. editor and an assistant editor of the Times of London.[1]

In November 2008, it was announced that Baker would be moving from the Times to the Wall Street Journal in January 2009, to become deputy editor-in-chief of the Times.[6][2] He was then named managing editor of Dow Jones and editor-in-chief of the Wall Street Journal, assuming these positions on March 1, 2013.[1]

Baker was left-of-center during his university years,[4][5] and was elected as a Labour vice-president of the student union.[5] Baker subsequently moved toward the right.[4][5] Media critic David Carr of the New York Times described Baker as "a neoconservative columnist of acute political views."[7] Baker describes himself as a "right-wing curmudgeon."[3] As deputy editor-in-chief, Baker (then serving as Robert James Thomson's lieutenant) replaced Journal reporters and bureau chiefs who they felt were too liberal.[8] Baker "openly mocked Barack Obama and what he saw as the turgid style of American journalists."[9] Baker holds euroskeptic views, arguing against closer European integration.[10][11]

Ryan Chittum, a former Wall Street Journal reporter, criticized Baker in the Columbia Journalism Review as "an Iraq War-cheerleading neocon, goofball Obama ridiculer, and author of some of the wrongest commentary of the financial crisis."[12] Chittum highlighted several of Baker's previous writings, including a column in the Financial Times in 2003 in which Baker mocked French opposition to the Iraq War, and a column in the Times of London in 2006 in which Baker argued that "we are going to have to get ready for war with Iran."[12]

Among the issues addressed by Baker during his tenure as editor of the Journal were several rounds of large-scale layoffs of reporters and staff[13][14] and the disappearance and death of Journal reporter David Bird.[15][16]

In November 2015, Baker was one of the moderators at the fourth Republican primary debate during the 2016 presidential primaries.[6] He is the first Briton to moderate a U.S. presidential debate.[17] Baker's performance became popular on social media,[18][19] with the Daily Telegraph reporting that Baker had "bemused" and "flummoxed" America.[20]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Gerard Baker: official biography, Dow Jones & Company.
  2. 1 2 "Gerard Baker Editor in Chief, The Wall Street Journal". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 11 November 2015.
  3. 1 2 3 Michael Calderone, Baker named WSJ's deputy editor-in-chief, Wall Street Journal (November 12, 2008).
  4. 1 2 3 Roger Simon, I say potato and he says chip, Politico (November 11, 2015).
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 Interview: Gerard Baker, Editor, The Wall Street Journal, How Did They Do It? 30 Interviews Exploring Success.
  6. 1 2 "Fox Business Republican debate moderators: Maria Bartiromo, Neil Cavuto, Gerard Baker". Vox. Retrieved 11 November 2015.
  7. ↑ David Carr, Under Murdoch, Tilting Rightward at The Journal (December 13, 2009), New York Times.
  8. ↑ Sarah Ellison, War at the Wall Street Journal: Inside the Struggle To Control an American Business Empire (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt: 2010), p. 242.
  9. ↑ Ellison, p. 242.
  10. ↑ Paul Taylor, The End of European Integration: Anti-Europeanism Examined (Routledge, 2007), pp. 135-36.
  11. ↑ Against United Europe: A new superstate probably isn't in Europeans' interest. It certainly isn't in America's., Weekly Standard Vol. 9, No. 2 (September 22, 2003).
  12. 1 2 Ryan Chittum, Neocon WSJ editor sits down with France's Iran critic: Gerard Baker gets a byline, Columbia Journalism Review (December 20, 2015).
  13. ↑ Ravi Somaiya, Dow Jones Begins New Round of Layoffs, New York Times (June 18, 2015).
  14. ↑ Frank Pallotta, Wall Street Journal hit with layoffs that could top 100, CNN Money (June 18, 2015).
  15. ↑ Lindsey Bever, Wall Street Journal reporter David Bird's body found in a N.J. river, Washington Post (March 20, 2015).
  16. ↑ Paul Milo & Justin Zaremba, Reporter David Bird, found dead in river, was 'a mentor, a friend, and a model of integrity', NJ.com (March 20, 2015).
  17. ↑ James Morgan, And the Republican debate winner is... the British guy, BBC News (November 11, 2015).
  18. ↑ Joe Pompeo, 'Pop culture sensation' Gerard Baker's debate postmortem, Politico (November 11, 2015).
  19. ↑ Jack Sommers, Gerard Baker Crowned Winner of Republican Presidential Debate As 'Muricans' Cry Foul, Huffington Post UK (November 11, 2015).
  20. ↑ Harriet Alexander, British moderator of Republican Debate bemuses America, Daily Telegraph (November 11, 2015).
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