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British writer and columnist

Gerard Baker is a British writer and columnist. He was Dow Jones' Managing Editor, and The Wall Street Journals Editor in Chief from March 2013 until June 2018. Baker stepped down as WSJ Editor in Chief and transitioned into the role of Editor at Large. He was succeeded by WSJ executive editor Matt Murray.

Baker was educated at Corpus Christi College, Oxford, United Kingdom and holds a degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics (first class honours). Though he long remained a British citizen, Baker took American citizenship in December 2023. He was left of centre during his university years, After working there for a year, he moved to Lloyds Bank as a Latin America analyst. As deputy editor in chief, Baker (then serving under Robert Thomson) replaced Journal reporters and bureau chiefs who they felt were too liberal. Baker was then dismissive of "what he saw as the turgid style of American journalists." In 2009, a year after their appointment, Thomson and Baker were reported to have given the newspaper a more conservative outlook and, according to David Carr of The New York Times, their editing reflected "a chronic skepticism of the" Obama administration. On 1 March 2013, he was named the Dow Jones Managing Editor, and The Wall Street Journals Editor in Chief. In 2015, the Journal began a new round of large scale layoffs of reporters and staff. Some sections of the paper's print edition, including Greater New York, were cut, while others were consolidated. In November 2015, Baker was one of the moderators at the fourth Republican primary debate during the 2016 presidential primaries. Baker's performance became an issue on social media, with The Daily Telegraph reporting that Baker had "bemused" and "flummoxed" America.

Baker was John Carreyrou's editor when the latter investigated and reported on the Theranos scandal for the Journal.

In 2016 and 2017, the Journal leadership under Baker was criticised, both from the outside and from within the newsroom, who viewed the paper's coverage of President Donald Trump as too timid. which argued that the news media failed to report crimes committed by black people against whites, was criticized in a letter sent by the Independent Association of Publishers' Employees, the union representing Journal reporters, for violating rules that apply to the news division. The letter stated Baker's column "posits the highly controversial argument that black people commit more hate crimes than white people" and to "'prove' that he uses only his own single weighted statistical calculation, with no attribution or context from experts either to support the idea or provide contrary views." Baker was subsequently reassigned to the opinion division where staff have more flexibility.

Although a white British man, the writers of The Dropout, the 2023 Hulu dramatization of the life of Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes and the events leading to the collapse of the company, portrayed Baker as a black American woman called Judith Baker, played by LisaGay Hamilton. An explanation for the switch was not provided by the producers.