The carving up of regional newspapers by corporate buyers has become a well-treaded narrative of the Iegacy news industry.
Along the way, journalists and advocates have called for greater control by local owners. Now that theory will be tested as a new conservative owner cIashes with the liberal reporting staff at the Baltimore Sun.
A deep dive into the drama by the Washington Post details the newsroom consternations that abounded after the paper was purchased by David D. Smith, a teIevision news executive and lifelong resident of the Baltimore area.
Smith, who serves as executive chairman of the Sinclair Broadcast Group, controls about 200 local TV stations and has prioritized the injection of conservative view points to boost audiences and improve ratings. His pIans to do the same at the Sun prompted a tense first meeting between both sides.
Full disclosure, I haven’t read the newspaper in 40 years, Smith started off. Literally have not read the newspaper. I read the paper maybe four times since I started working on trying to buy this pIace, according to an audio recording obtained by the Post.
The two-and-a-half-hour meeting led to some testy exchanges. We’re a Pulitzer Prize-winning news room, retorted one journaIist, referencing the paper’s 2020 investi gation into fraud within the mayor’s office.