Baltimore Sun sold, returns to local ownership

The Baltimore Sun, Maryland’s largest newspaper, was purchased in a private deal by the executive chair and former CEO of Sinclair Broadcast Group, David D. Smith, returning the paper to local ownership for the first time in nearly 40 years.

The Sun announced the deal Monday night, confirming Smith acquired The Baltimore Sun Media from investment firm Alden Global Capital using his funds. Smith, a lifelong Marylander, bought the paper, along with Capital Gazette papers in Annapolis, Carroll County Times, Towson Times and other Baltimore-based weeklies and magazines, The Sun reported.

“I’m in the news business because I believe … we have an absolute responsibility to serve the public interest,” Smith said in an interview reported by The Sun. “I think the paper can be hugely profitable and successful and serve a greater public interest over time.”

The deal comes more than two years after investment firm Alden Global Capital’s $633 million takeover of Tribune Publishing newspaper chain in May 2021. The deal, which drew criticism from journalists from the Chicago Tribune and other Tribune newspapers, gave Alden Global Capital full ownership of the Tribune, Baltimore Sun, the New York Daily News, Orlando Sentinel and other Tribune papers.

“We are always open to discussions about local ownership and pleased that our preeminent newspaper operating and technology platform will continue to provide services for The Baltimore Sun,” said Guy Gilmore, MediaNews Group’s chief operating officer, in an email to The Sun.

MediaNewsGroup is owned by Alden Global Capital.

The Sun noted Smith purchased the newspaper group independently from Sinclair, which owns more than 180 television news stations across the country. Smith, 71, served as president and CEO of Sinclair from 1988 to 2017, when he took on the role of executive chairman.

Smith said he hopes to improve a struggling newspaper industry and pointed to the industry’s difficulty adapting to a changing market and internet, The Sun reported. He told the outlet he thinks he can increase The Sun’s subscriptions and advertising by putting a stronger focus on local and community news and investigations, increasing video and social media usage and utilizing technology in new ways.

He plans to meet with staff and management of The Sun on Tuesday to begin discussions on the future of the publication, the outlet reported.

“We understand the importance of strong public service journalism and holding the region’s politicians and others in power accountable,” Trif Alatzas, The Sun’s publisher and editor-in-chief, said on Monday. “That has been part of Baltimore Sun Media’s DNA for generations. We look forward to working together to make our organization even stronger.”

Smith confirmed political commentator Armstrong Williams will be a partner in the venture, but he did not reveal what Williams’s share of ownership will look like. Williams hosts a syndicated television show on Sinclair network affiliates.