Theo Baker

{{Infobox journalist | name = Theo Baker | birth_date = {{birth based on age as of date|18|2023|7|19}} | organization = ''[[The Stanford Daily]]'' | parents = {{plainlist|* [[Peter Baker (journalist)|Peter Baker]] * [[Susan Glasser]]}} | website = https://theobaker.info/ }}

'''Theo Baker''' (born 2005)<ref name="SFChronicleMeet">{{cite news |last=Tucker |first=Jill |date=July 19, 2023 |title=Meet the Stanford student whose reporting led to resignation of president Marc Tessier-Lavigne |work=San Francisco Chronicle |url=https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/stanford-president-resigns-student-journalist-18208940.php |access-date=July 21, 2023 }}</ref> is an American [[Student publication|student journalist]] at ''[[The Stanford Daily]]'', the student-run, independent newspaper of [[Stanford University]]. In 2023, he became the youngest recipient of the [[George Polk Award]] for his reporting that led to the resignation of Stanford president [[Marc Tessier-Lavigne]]. Baker is the son of journalists [[Peter Baker (journalist)|Peter Baker]] and [[Susan Glasser]].

==Early life and education== Baker is from the [[Washington, D.C.]], area<ref name=":0" /> and is the son of journalists [[Peter Baker (journalist)|Peter Baker]] of ''[[The New York Times]]'' and [[Susan Glasser]] of ''[[The New Yorker]]''.<ref name="NYTimesPolk2023">{{cite news |last=Robertson |first=Katie |date=February 20, 2023 |title=New York Times Wins 3 Polk Awards |work=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/20/business/media/polk-awards-2022.html |access-date=July 21, 2023 }}</ref><ref name="SFStudent2023">{{cite news |last1=Asimov |first1=Nanette |date=February 17, 2023 |title=Student paper: Scientists say study by Stanford president contained false data |work=San Francisco Chronicle |url=https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/student-paper-scientists-accuse-stanford-17791017.php |access-date=February 21, 2023}}</ref><ref name=book>{{cite news |first=Nanette |last=Asimov |url=https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/toppled-stanford-president-written-book-21237660.php |title=He toppled Stanford's president as a freshman. Now he's written a tell-all about the university |newspaper=San Francisco Chronicle |date=December 12, 2025 |access-date=December 13, 2025 }}</ref> His paternal great-grandparents were Greek immigrants who anglicized their surname from Bakirtzoglous.<ref>{{cite web | title=Eleftherios Baker Obituary |year=2023 |work=The Washington Post | via=Legacy.com | url=https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/washingtonpost/name/eleftherios-baker-obituary?id=51595336 }}</ref> He attended high school at [[Phillips Academy]] in [[Andover, Massachusetts]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Bonos |first1=Lisa |title=Meet the student who helped boot the president of Stanford |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/media/2023/07/28/theo-baker-stanford-president-tessier-lavigne/ |website=Washington Post |access-date=March 27, 2024 |date=July 30, 2023}}</ref>

He matriculated at [[Stanford University]] in 2022, when he was 17, and joined ''[[The Stanford Daily]]''. He expects to graduate in June 2026 with a degree in history.<ref name=book/>

== Reporting == {{see also|Marc Tessier-Lavigne#Stanford University and research controversy}} As a freshman reporter at ''The Stanford Daily'', Baker began publishing stories in November 2022 about accusations that Stanford president Marc Tessier-Lavigne had altered images used in research papers, leading to a formal investigation from the university.<ref name="NYTimesPolk2023"/><ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Purtill |first=Corinne |date=July 21, 2023 |title=Q&A: How this Stanford freshman brought down the president of the university |url=https://www.latimes.com/science/story/2023-07-21/how-stanford-freshman-brought-down-university-president |access-date=July 25, 2023 |website=[[Los Angeles Times]] }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Allen |first=Barbara |date=December 11, 2022 |title=The Stanford University president is under investigation, and student journalists are a large part of the reason why |url=https://www.poynter.org/educators-students/2022/the-stanford-university-president-is-under-investigation-and-student-journalists-are-a-large-part-of-the-reason-why/ |access-date=July 25, 2023 |website=Poynter }}</ref> Baker learned about the accusations through the scientific review website [[PubPeer]] and brought them to scientific integrity expert [[Elisabeth Bik]].<ref name=":0" /> A lawyer representing Tessier-Lavigne sent letters to Baker, describing his reporting as "replete with falsehoods."<ref>{{Cite news |last=Luna |first=Itzel |date=July 28, 2023 |title=The Resignation of Stanford's President Shows the Importance of Student Journalism |work=The Nation |url=https://www.thenation.com/?post_type=article&p=453382 |access-date=August 1, 2023 |issn=0027-8378}}</ref>

In July 2023, the final university report found that Tessier-Lavigne's research "fell below customary standards of scientific rigor and process" but did not constitute fraud.<ref name=":1">{{Cite news |last=Saul |first=Stephanie |date=July 19, 2023 |title=Stanford President Will Resign After Report Found Flaws in His Research |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/19/us/stanford-president-resigns-tessier-lavigne.html |access-date=July 25, 2023 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> Baker subsequently published another story that the investigating panel did not grant some witnesses anonymity, so they were unable to testify because of active [[non-disclosure agreement]]s.<ref name=":0" /> Tessier-Lavigne announced his resignation as Stanford's president on July 19, 2023, with multiple major news outlets, including ''[[The New York Times]]'' and ''[[The Washington Post]]'', saying it was a direct result of the ''Stanford Daily'' stories.<ref name=":1" /><ref>{{Cite news |last1=Svrluga |first1=Susan |last2=Stripling |first2=Jack |date=July 19, 2023 |title=Stanford president will resign after questions about research |newspaper=Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2023/07/19/stanford-university-marc-tessier-lavigne-research-controversy/ |access-date=July 25, 2023 |issn=0190-8286}}</ref>

In late March 2024, an article by Baker titled "The War at Stanford" was published in ''[[The Atlantic]]''.<ref name="Atlantic2024"/><ref name=book/> The article discussed the response of Stanford University to the [[2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel]], arguing that the attack was not adequately condemned. Similarly, Baker asserted that pro-Palestine students' rhetoric led to [[antisemitism]] and created a culture of fear for Jews on campus.<ref name="Atlantic2024">{{cite news |last1=Baker |first1=Theo |title=The War at Stanford |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2024/03/stanford-israel-gaza-hamas/677864/ |work=[[The Atlantic]] |language=en |date=March 26, 2024}}</ref> The article also mentioned an instance where a Stanford student allegedly advocated for violence against [[Joe Biden|President Biden]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Clark |first1=Jeffrey |title=Stanford student called for Biden's assassination for advancing 'genocide' of Palestinians, classmate claims |url=https://www.foxnews.com/media/stanford-student-called-bidens-assassination-advancing-genocide-palestinians-classmate-claims |website=Fox News |date=March 26, 2024}}</ref> The student's naming was denounced by some, such as journalist [[Glenn Greenwald]], as a form of [[doxxing]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Greenwald |first1=Glenn |title=The Atlantic Doxes Pro-Palestine Students w/ Nepo Baby, Theo Baker |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bAroc2ZzEAc |website=YouTube |language=en}}</ref> The article was criticized by others on the basis of its portrayal of student protestors, alleging a biased narrative ignoring [[islamophobia]] and the [[Palestinian genocide accusation|plight of Palestinians]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Lennard |first1=Natasha |title=Pro-Israel Advocates Are Weaponizing 'Safety' on College Campuses |url=https://theintercept.com/2024/03/28/safety-college-columbia-stanford-antisemitism-israel-palestine/ |website=The Intercept}}</ref> [[Jonathan Chait]] later published a piece in [[New York (magazine)|''New York Magazine'']] responding to this criticism, suggesting [[Progressivism in the United States|progressive]] attacks were motivated by viewpoints outside the mainstream and that critics were espousing "[[Illiberal democracy|illiberal left-wing thought]]".<ref>{{cite web |last1=Chait |first1=Jonathan |title=Does the Left Think Young Left-Wing Protesters Matter or Not? |url=https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/stanford-theo-baker-palestinian-protester-anti-semitism-israel-biden-campus.html |website=Intelligencer |language=en |date=March 28, 2024}}</ref>

Baker took two terms off in his junior year to write a book about Stanford titled ''How to Rule the World'', to be published by [[Penguin Press]] in 2026.<ref name=book/>

===Awards=== In February 2023, ''The Stanford Daily'' received one of the 2022 [[George Polk Awards]] for its reporting on Tessier-Lavigne, the first time an independent, student-run newspaper has won the award.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Jones |first=Tom |date=July 20, 2023 |title=A Stanford student paper's excellent work leads to a major resignation |url=https://www.poynter.org/commentary/2023/stanford-daily-student-newspaper-president-marc-tessier-lavigne/ |access-date=July 25, 2023 |website=Poynter }}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite web |last=Sze |first=Kristen |date=July 20, 2023 |title=Stanford freshman's determined reporting leads to investigation, president's resignation |url=https://abc7news.com/stanford-theo-baker-university-president-resigns-marc-tessier-lavigne-daily/13523844/ |access-date=July 25, 2023 |website=ABC7 San Francisco }}</ref> The Polk Awards gave Baker a "Special Award", making him the youngest ever Polk awardee.<ref name="NYTimesPolk2023" /><ref name=":2" /> He has also received a [[James Madison Freedom of Information Award]] from the [[Northern California]] Chapter of the [[Society of Professional Journalists]].<ref name="SFChronicleMeet" />

== Personal life == Baker has said that he was raised as a [[Jewish secularism|secular Jew]] and discovered when he was a teenager that dozens of relatives had died in [[the Holocaust]].<ref name=book/>

He is often portrayed as a "[[nepo baby]]", benefitting from the status of his parents in the journalistic world.<ref name="SFChronicleMeet"/> He rejected the criticisms, saying while he was fortunate to have good role models, he strived to keep his parents' influence "entirely separate" from his reporting.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Hall |first=Ellie |date=March 9, 2023 |title=This 18-Year-Old College Journalist Could Bring Down Stanford University's President |url=https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/ellievhall/theo-baker-stanford-marc-tessier-lavigne-investigation |access-date=July 28, 2023 |website=BuzzFeed News }}</ref> He told ''[[Teen Vogue]]'' that he had previously said he would never become a journalist but changed his mind to "feel connected to [his] late grandfather, who passed just two weeks before [he] started at Stanford, and who would always sit down and talk about his time doing student journalism."<ref>{{Cite web |last=Retta |first=Mary |date=July 21, 2023 |title=This Stanford Freshman's Reporting Brought Down the School President |url=https://www.teenvogue.com/story/theo-baker-stanford-president-resigns-marc-tessier-lavigne |access-date=July 28, 2023 |website=[[Teen Vogue]] }}</ref>

== References == {{Reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Baker, Theo}} [[Category:2000s births]] [[Category:21st-century American journalists]] [[Category:American writers of Greek descent]] [[Category:George Polk Award recipients]] [[Category:Living people]] [[Category:Place of birth missing (living people)]] [[Category:Stanford University alumni]] [[Category:Year of birth uncertain]]