Forget It Jake, It's Baltimore

NewsBusters, GET OVER IT: Lefty Media Freak Over Conservative Baltimore Exec Saving Newspaper

After it was announced Monday that local businessman and Sinclair Broadcasting Group executive Chairman David Smith had rescued The Sun with plans to revitalize it to a robust status, the left is apoplectic. Why? Sinclair, the local news behemoth Smith runs, has been accused for years of tilting right. Based on the hissy fits pitched by the AP, the Baltimore Banner (an online site started after the Alden purchase), CNN, The New York Times, and The Washington Post, it seems like journalists would rather the paper die all together than be run by someone who’s not a leftist.

An initial AP story said Smith told staffer “he will focus on local news and investigations, and he plans to use video and social media to attract new subscribers”, but a follow-up warned Smith was not to be praised and instead scorned since Smith’s “an active contributor to conservative causes” 
. . .
CNN reacted the way you’d expect. Oliver Darcy, their deranged liberal media hall monitor, whined in his media newsletter that it’s a “deal that has set off alarm bells” since Smith’s local stations around the country “has previously inserted right-wing editorial segments into its local news broadcasts.”

Writing on Threads and X, NPR media writer and former Sun reporter David Folkenflik huffed that “Smith was dismissive of the Sun's journalism” and “deflected questions about his own political activities.” He also seethed that “Smith has been a major funder of GOP candidates; more recently he has funded far-right outfits like Project Veritas and Turning Point USA & financed local ballot initiatives.” Folkenflik made sure to take a swipe at Sinclair stations: “Sinclair...has pulled the news coverage and commentaries on those stations markedly to the right, ultimately becoming quite supportive of Trump.” “Unclear what the current moment holds,” he added.

The Banner story reeked of scorn. “In a tense, three-hour meeting with staff Tuesday afternoon, new Baltimore Sun owner David Smith told employees he has only read the paper four times in the past few months, insulted the quality of their journalism and encouraged them to emulate a TV station owned by his broadcasting company,” the story began, written by former Sun reporters Cody Boteler, Lee Sanderlin, and Giacomo Bologna.

The Balmer Sun,  After Baltimore Sun sale to David Smith, part-owner Armstrong Williams offers vision 

Williams, a well-known conservative talk show host, syndicated columnist and author who founded one of the nation’s largest minority-owned television broadcasting firms, said in his first extensive interview about the sale that he sees himself and Smith as “the next caretakers of this paper.”

“A caretaker is not really about the money but who will preserve it, who will appreciate what it really means,” Williams said. “I’ve owned many things in my life. This, to me, being in the print [business] with one of the top newspapers in the country, one of the top 10 cities in the country, it just swells my heart with such responsibility.”

Williams, 61, said he envisions the publications as vehicles for expanding — not limiting — viewpoints and coverage that’s important to the community, strives to be fair and objective, avoids bias and builds on trust with readers. He described the ownership as ambitious, aggressive and open to hiring.

“We want to do what’s best for the community, what’s best for the paper, the continued legacy. We have no agenda,” he said, other than “making The Baltimore Sun the prize of this region.”

Sounds like a dangerous firebrand to me! Streiff at RedState reports  Conservative Billionaire Buys Leftwing Newspaper and the First Meeting Goes As You Might Expect

In a three-hour meeting last Tuesday, David Smith, the owner of Sinclair Media Group, told employees that he'd read the paper four times in the last few months and told them they'd have to up their game. In partnership with conservative commentator Armstrong Williams, Smith bought the venerable Sun for "nine figures."
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According to accounts of the meeting published in the Baltimore Banner, whose leftist founder lost a bid to buy the Sun, these are some of the highlights.

The in-person meeting ran nearly three hours and was full of tense exchanges, people at the meeting said. Smith was noncommittal about both the long-term continuation of a print edition and retention of current staff.

Smith seemed to try and pit reporters against each other, asking them to rank who was the best in the newsroom. Several times throughout the meeting, he said he has “no idea what you do.”

Asked about people’s job security, Smith said everyone “has a job today” and said he would not make wholesale changes until he better understood the operation.
...
Reporters repeatedly pressed Smith for answers about whether they would continue public service journalism that didn’t necessarily translate to page views or subscriptions. Smith maintained he was focused on money.

Clad in a suit, Smith spoke glowingly of Fox45, which is known for segments like “City in Crisis.” The news station, Sinclair’s flagship, regularly conducts unscientific online polls — with results that are likely not representative of the region — to gauge viewer interest.

People in failing, if not moribund, businesses are rarely happy when someone shakes things up. The Sun is no different.

“I think it will mean disaster,” John E. McIntyre, an editor at The Sun for 34 years, said of Mr. Smith’s ownership. Mr. McIntyre took a buyout in 2021 and now does occasional freelance work for the new crosstown rival, The Baltimore Banner.

“What I expect is that he will make good on what he said, to turn The Baltimore Sun into the same thing that his Fox45 TV station is: a megaphone for right-wing disinformation and contempt for the city of Baltimore,” Mr. McIntyre added.
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The Baltimore Sun Guild, which represents journalists at the paper, said in a statement after the staff meeting: “The editorial direction that he described — focused on clicks rather than journalistic value — concerned many of our members, as did his attitude toward vulnerable communities in the city that we love.”

Imagine that. Being forced to write about stuff people want to read about rather than getting paid a damned good salary to engage in what amounts to public onanism.

Can they save the paper? We'll see.