John Baer

John M. Baer was born in Harrisburg, PA, the capital of Pennsylvania, with political journalism in his blood.

His father, John H. Baer, worked in the same Capitol Newsroom that John M.,the political columnist for the Philadelphia Daily News, has worked out of for the past 25 years.

He has covered every major election and politician in the state since the 1970's, including for the Daily News and, prior to that, for the Harrisburg Patriot-News and PBS station WITF-TV.

He's won several awards for public affairs programming on public TV as well as for column-writing and investigative reporting. His freelance work has appeared in The Washington Post, Newsweek, The New York Post, USA Today, The Columbia Journalism Review, the American Journalism Review, The Nation, Salon.com and many other outlets.

He's appeared on multiple national news programs and cable talk shows, including MSNBC's "Hardball" with Chris Matthews.

He has served as moderator for several statewide debates involving candidates for governor and the U.S. Senate.

He is a founder and president of the Pennsylvania Press Club and a board member and past president of the Pennsylvania Legislative Correspondents Assn.