I'm Brian Stelter and this is the Reliable Sources Podcast. My guest this week is Marty Barron, the executive

editor of the Washington Post, one of the most powerful editors in the United States.

I taped this interview with Marty on stage of the Aspen Ideas Festival, one day before the

attack in Annapolis that left five Capital Gazette employees dead.

In the wake of the attack, I think Marty's words about journalism and the role of the press in a democracy are even more important to hear.

Thank you very much. This is a live edition of reliable sources except on Wednesday as it of Sunday.

And Marty, I'm thrilled to have a chance to talk with you in depth about the news business

and about the post.

You've been there a little while now.

I think we're at five years. Five and a half years and Jeff

Bazaos purchasing the post almost five years at this point. So let's talk about the past and

the present and the future of the post.

But I'd like to start with, if you don't mind, a heart ball, because something that's been on my mind in recent days.

And I think it's on the mind of many people

that are at this festival.

From your perch running the Washington Post,

observing President Trump and having to cover

this story every day.

Is this a form of a national emergency?

Are we living through a national emergency?

And if so, how would the heck should journalists

be covering it that way? I think it's for others to decide whether you classify this as a national emergency or not.

...