Baker of 'Wash Post' Says Wife's Ouster Sparked Jump to 'NY Times'

By: Joe Strupp Peter Baker, who left The Washington Post for The New York Times on Monday, said he did so because the Post's treatment of his wife, Susan Glasser, made it "untenable" for him to stay.

"This is the inevitable decision," he told E&P by cell phone as he and Glasser left on a week's vacation. "I would have happily stayed at the Post for my life. But it became untenable because of the decision they made three weeks ago."

That decision was the removal of Glasser from her post as assistant managing editor/national news. Glasser, who has been married to Baker for seven years, was ousted on April 22 and is currently serving as an advisor to Donald Graham, chairman of The Washington Post Company.

Earlier today, word came out that the Times had hired Baker as a staff writer for The New York Times Magazine.

"Our distinguished stable of contributing writers is about to get well, more distinguished," Times Magazine Editor Gerry Marzorati wrote in a staff e-mail memo. "Peter Baker, the Washington Post's senior White House correspondent, is joining the Magazine."

Baker, who also covered the Iraq war, told E&P that his departure is directly tied to the treatment of Glasser, which he believed was unfair.

"The decision they made was one that most people I know in the newsroom disagreed with strongly and I did, too," he said.

Some at the Post claimed Glasser had been difficult to work with and had caused morale problems, while others told E&P she made important improvements to the coverage, which shared in several of the six Pulitzer Prizes the paper won last month.

"I am very sorry it has come to this," Baker said. "I am sad it has come to this. The Post was my home for 20 years. This is a very difficult thing for me."

Baker would not elaborate on how the Times job came about, declining to say if they contacted him or he went looking for the position. But he said, "I have had conversations with them going back years. The Times is a fantastic and excellent paper. I am extremely lucky to have a chance to work for them."

Glasser continued to decline comment on the situation. But Baker said her new job as an advisor to Graham about the future of the company is a positive move. "It is a very important, future-leaning position," he noted. "It is actually a great opportunity."

Baker, who with Glasser has a three-year-old son, said he will work for the Times based in Washington. Asked about the future of the Post, which is undergoing a major buyout program that already has several veterans, such as Thomas Ricks, expected to leave, Baker said: "it is a very tough time for the paper with people walking out the door. The paper is committed to replacing them. It will evolve to the next step."

Marzorati's memo went on to add that Baker is "worldly, aggressive, and ambitious about his reporting and his writing -- all things that will quickly make him a valued magazine journalist. Expect to see his first cover story for us in the fall."