John Baer is an American political columnist, formerly with The Philadelphia Daily News and Philadelphia Inquirer, currently with the Harrisburg Patriot-New and PennLive.
Baer is a graduate of Mount St. Mary's University and holds a master's degree from Temple University. [1] He studied at the Brookings Institution and worked in Congress as a Fellow of the American Political Science Association. [1] He also was a Fellow of the Loyola Law School in Los Angeles inaugural Journalist Law School program. [1]
Baer spent 32 years with the Philadelphia Daily New and Philadelphia Inquirer before joining the Harrisburg Patriot-News/PennLive in 2019. He has won numerous awards for political columns over the years, including from the Associated Press Managing Editors, The Pennsylvania News Media Association, the Pennsylvania Bar Association, Pennsylvania Common Cause and the Pennsylvania Society of Professional Journalists.
In 2002, the National Journal named him one of the top 10 political journalists outside Washington, DC. [1] In 2005, he was named one of "Pennsylvania's Most Influential Reporters" by the Pennsylvania political news website PoliticsPA. [2] In 2015, he received The Ben Franklin Award for Excellence from the Pennsylvania News Media Association. And in 2024, was inducted into the Pennsylvania News Media Hall of Fame.