D.C. power journo couple Peter Baker and Susan Glasser absolutely refuse to give up on the printed editions of some of their favorite newspapers, even if the concept is bordering on obsolete.
Baker, a NYT reporter and panelist at the Politico Playbook Breakfast Wednesday morning, admitted to the crowd that he and Glasser, who is editor-in-chief of Politico Magazine, still get five print publications delivered to their home.
They include: New York Times, Washington Post, WSJ, The Washington Times and Roll Call. “If we weren’t already over the top, we’d like to get FT too,” he told The Mirror, referring to Financial Times.
The pair are increasingly seeing their careers intertwine. Late last month, Politico Magazine published a lengthy piece by Baker base on his book Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House. The story was, “The Truth About Bush (And Cheney).”
Other editors and journalists around town largely get far fewer than five. One longtime journo (who wished to remain anonymous for anonymous reasons) said he receives one paper at home — The Washington Post. “Not counting others that are forced on me such as local Virginia pubs,” the source added. MSNBC political contributor Jimmy Williams gets exactly three — Veranda Magazine (a home decorating pub), National Journal and Rolling Stone. At The Daily Caller, editors get a minimal ration of print publications delivered to their homes — Vince Conglianese gets none, Will Rahn gets The New Yorker (very sophisticated) and Paul Conner gets the Washington Post. Editor-in-Chief Tucker Carlson gets just one newspaper at home. “The New York Post is the only newspaper I get at home,” he said. “It meets all my needs.”
Over at C-SPAN, Communications Director Howard Mortman gets home delivery of the Washington Post. “I’ve been subscribing forever, and I hang onto it for my kids,” he said. “They read the KidsPost.” Roll Call Editor-in-Chief Christina Bellantoni gets two pubs at home — Washington Post seven days a week and NYT on Sunday. (She added that she gets Roll Call and The Hill at the office.) RealClearPolitics Washington Bureau Chief Carl Cannon gets two newspapers and about a dozen magazines delivered to his home. “The Washington Post and some other rag—I forget the name,” he said (making a NYT joke). But actually he gets WaPo and some paper in Arlington, Va. — he can’t recall the name of that one either, but it’s some local Arlington rag (he gets Politico at the office). Washington Bureau Chief The Atlantic‘s Editor-at-Large Steve Clemons was among the few broaching a Baker-Glasser level of home deliveries. “Lol. My partner is addicted to tangible newspapers,” he told The Mirror. “We get three — Financial Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal. And a ton of magazines.” USA Today‘s Susan Page and her journo hubby, Carl Leubsdorf, columnist for The Dallas Morning News, also nearly reach Baker-Glasser level but not quite: “We get delivered at home: USA TODAY, Washington Post, New York Times, Wall Street Journal.”
Asked to comment on who cleans up all those stacks of newspapers, Glasser did not return a request for comment by press time. We do hope Baker is in charge of cleanup and recycling.
Update: Glasser replied, saying, “For what it’s worth, Peter is in charge of recycling, thank goodness.” She added that the couple also gets a ton of print magazines.
Update #2: The Washington Examiner‘s Editor-in-Chief Stephen Smith replied to the question of how many print pubs he gets at home. He wrote, “WSJ, NYT, WaPO, Weekly Standard, Economist, New Yorker, Atlantic, Vanity Fair. I get a bunch of other stuff at the office.”