Renowned newspaper editor Martin Baron issued a grim warning to an MIT audience on Thursday, stating that the avalanche of lies and falsehoods permeating the media people consume today constitutes a direct threat to U.S. democracy and civil society. “The path we are on today is an invitation to ruin,” said Baron, while delivering MIT’s annual spring Compton Lecture. Baron, who served as executive editor of The Washington Post from 2013 to 2021, before retiring, focused many of his remarks on lies and misinformation about the Covid-19 pandemic as well…
