David D. Smith, the executive chairman of Sinclair Broadcast Group (Sinclair), purchased the Baltimore Sun — the largest newspaper in Maryland — for an undisclosed sum. The acquisition means another powerful media outlet will be under the control of a wealthy conservative businessman with a history of using local media outlets to push an ideological agenda.
Thank you Judd for the almost totally discouraging news about David Smith's purchase of The Baltimore Sun. My mind goes to the brilliant TV series, The Wire and it's exploration of all aspects of Baltimore. So, let's call on the artistic geniuses, including comedians, to present the truth that can penetrate the kind of anti-truth and anti-humanistic positions spewed out in all directions from the Sinclair consortium.
Thanks, I knew that but wanted to shorten my comment. Everything about The Wire was worth studying. We could use more combination journalist-artist geniuses like Simon.
Simon obviously bemoaned The Sun's long sad demise, and urged people to throw their weight behind The Baltimore Banner as "the only regional newspaper model for the future."
Talks a lot of sense that guy.
* To paraphrase the great Sarah Kendzior, don't cede territory in an information war, and don't obey in advance. (And keep in mind Substack is positioning itself as a safe space for Nazis as well).
That is bad news, especially since Baltimore is a city that has received some of the harshest insults from the MAGA people. In NYC, the NEW YORK Post is a hometown paper that openly has contempt for its hometown as well as contempt for any journalistic standards. I fear that the Sun will transform into something similar.
I subscribe to the Baltimore Banner. I suspect some of the Sun reporters will end up there.
As a Baltimore city resident, this, to me, is a really dangerous indicator of yet another dishonorable billionaire taking over the information that the public receives, merely for his own benefit. This man does not live in Baltimore city, but in the county, in his big stone-castled estate, yet is trying to effect the outcomes of city politics and taxes, which, to be honest, are problematic. But having a right wing supporter of Moms For Liberty, Project Veritas, and other misinformation peddlers affecting our troubled city will not be pretty and lowers the intellect of every person that has access to the rubbish that he purveys. He is merely another Rupert Murdoch, raking in yet more cash, as he dumbs down and increases hate-inducing propaganda pitting American against American.
Sinclair media bought our local newspaper and one of our tv stations. I am deeply disturbed by this trend of bait and switch (misinformation) by journalists as we watch this ugly boil come to a head in our great country. Stop the madness, there are more of us than the millionaires and billionaires, all we have to do is collectively decide to stop this unnecessary suffering, then we shall set about cementing laws and policies that support We the People!
I feel for the journalists working at The Sun and mourn the loss of a once-great paper. But that mourning began long ago, let’s not kid ourselves. The good news is MAGA doesn’t read newspapers so this is just a rich-guy vanity deal.
I am currently reading Heather Cox Richardson's excellent new book "Democracy Awakening." In the opening chapters Richardson, who is a historian, traces the history of Nazism in the US in the late 30s and 40s. Part of the rise was finding a dissatisfied group and preaching to them, even if what you were selling was not good for them. Trump did that. Another was getting media "on their side." So, again Judd thank you for reporting this dismaying news. The real question is, how do we, as citizens living in other parts of the country stop or tame the beast?
Another fine exposé, Judd. I hate to see another great paper fall, but at least we know it thanks to you. We need a report on the other greats and their ownership status.
America is dying. Congress (ha ha) needs to reinstate that the media has to tell the truth! Reagan trashed that safeguard and look at us now. He was the beginning of what we’re now facing . The super rich need to be taxed out of existence Their tax rates were once 80%.. Fact check me please.
Suzanne you are a little off…taxes on the uber wealthy peaked at 90%! We need this now! ALL of us on the left must stop insulting Biden. We MUST re-elect him and get real Progressives in down ballot. Here is the choice: Biden or Fascism. People need to grow up, understand that Biden has had numerous positive accomplishments! There are things I strongly disagree with. This election is not about individuals nitpicking EVERYTHING! It is about saving our nation and if we allow the Fascist Republicans to take over, a minority, the international community will abandon the US in many ways, starting with eliminating our US$ as the basis for exchange…it’s already in trouble.
We are moving more and more into a fascist state. Remember that one of their tenets is to control the media and turn it into a propaganda vehicle. And where are all the Democratic billionaires? Why don’t some of them buy these papers instead? Looking at you, Tom Steyer.
First the Washington Post gets bought by Bezos, and now this. Maryland has been a faithful Democrat stronghold and it is worrisome that it appears the right has us in their crosshairs. I am seeing more comments under WaPo articles that readers are getting fed up with their "both-siderism" and lack of positive reporting on the current Administration; I have cancelled my paid subscription and see other comments saying they are doing the same. I hope this happens for the Sun too. Let them both fall into the abyss of right-wing fake news supporting billionaires and evangelicals; may they find their way to the Bad Place.
I see the same comments in the Post. I've read that they've lost 500,000 subscribers in the past few years. If not for Jennifer Rubin, Dana Milbank, and Alexandra Petri, plus it being my local paper, I'd cancel too. I get the Sunday paper delivered and it's part of my lifelong routine to read it with my coffee. Bezos laid off the entire Magazine staff at Christmas in 2022 and now offered buy outs to the long time staff. Alas none of the right wing hacks took it. You know, Bezos is barely getting by on his bazillions... 😂
I understand completely. It's good to maintain some comfort rituals in these crazy times, and I appreciate hearing the number of subscribers they are said to have lost.👍
" If not for Jennifer Rubin, Dana Milbank, and Alexandra Petri."
Agreed!
And I feel kind of bad when I see all of the comments disparaging the Wapo, that I continue to subscribe but as long as I derive value from their publication, I will continue to do so.
Unless, of course, it becomes a "right-wing rag." That's a Hot Potato that I won't hold.
Oct 11, 2023 — Interim CEO Patty Stonesifer called The Washington Post “a really good business” that “overshot on expense.” Now the company is reducing …
Meanwhile, The Sunpapers started to fail years ago, and I thinkl that this purchase might be the last nail in the coffin. Otherwise, we have the Baltimore Banner, more generously financed, but primarily a lot of fluff reporting.
The Baltimore Brew, a small, underfunded group of investigative journalists, provides the important reporting on Baltimore City and County politics and corruption and really deserve support, but they are struggling.
If we don't support the responsible and serious journalistic outlets, our democracy will decline further. It is happening all over the country and that is what authoritarians desire most.
Thanks for the Baltimore Brew rec - I cancelled the Sun yesterday with a comment that I won't support right wing media just in case they pay any attention & subscribed to the Banner (but it does look like fluff reporting).
I don't agree that The Banner has "primarily a lot of fluff reporting". If more people subscribe to it, they can hire the Sun reporters and grow their reporting. Ditch the Sun and subscribe to The Banner!
This explains why my local news station, WJLA in DC, led the 11pm show with an onsite and lengthy report on Trump's win in Iowa. Sinclair owns it. I won't be watching this station anymore!
They also won’t admit his win was not the largest margin in history in the Iowa caucuses - except among GOP candidates. That’s why some headlines carry a subtle qualifier “GOP”.
2 Dems own that title. Tom Harkin had just over 76%. He was from Iowa so he had the ‘favorite son’ advantage. Jimmy Carter had 59%. Neither were incumbents or former presidents.
sad to again see that democracy up to recently was really upheld by handshakes between dudes agreeing to act reasonably and in the best interests of the public. Young people have been showing up in small pockets to provide reporting and broadcast media. I hope this can continue and spread. Non profit or subscription-based seem to be the way forward.
The Baltimore Banner's story (https://www.thebaltimorebanner.com/economy/baltimore-sun-david-smith-sinclair-owner-F77S3D47ORD7LNEPZ7PJCXSLWM/), which included anonymized comments from journalists who attended the meeting with Smith, suggests that if anything, you're downplaying how bad this is going to get, Judd -- and I can't recall ever thinking that about one of your stories before. Smith told the newsroom things like, "You're going to be doing polls [by which he means unscientific surveys] every day now" and "Go make me some money!" Those "polls," by the way, apparently aren't just for readers, but also will be used to determine what gets covered, which would seem to rule out any kind of enterprise reporting just for starters. A sad day for a historic paper that won a Pulitzer as recently as 2020.
Thank you Judd for the almost totally discouraging news about David Smith's purchase of The Baltimore Sun. My mind goes to the brilliant TV series, The Wire and it's exploration of all aspects of Baltimore. So, let's call on the artistic geniuses, including comedians, to present the truth that can penetrate the kind of anti-truth and anti-humanistic positions spewed out in all directions from the Sinclair consortium.
David Simon was a reporter for the Sun.
Thanks, I knew that but wanted to shorten my comment. Everything about The Wire was worth studying. We could use more combination journalist-artist geniuses like Simon.
I keep wondering what Simon thinks of this - he was a good follow on Twitter, back when I still had an account.
I'm still on Twitter*
Simon obviously bemoaned The Sun's long sad demise, and urged people to throw their weight behind The Baltimore Banner as "the only regional newspaper model for the future."
Talks a lot of sense that guy.
* To paraphrase the great Sarah Kendzior, don't cede territory in an information war, and don't obey in advance. (And keep in mind Substack is positioning itself as a safe space for Nazis as well).
That is bad news, especially since Baltimore is a city that has received some of the harshest insults from the MAGA people. In NYC, the NEW YORK Post is a hometown paper that openly has contempt for its hometown as well as contempt for any journalistic standards. I fear that the Sun will transform into something similar.
I subscribe to the Baltimore Banner. I suspect some of the Sun reporters will end up there.
One can only hope that good writers find a worthy home.
If only Bainum had been successful in his bid to buy the Sun.
As a Baltimore city resident, this, to me, is a really dangerous indicator of yet another dishonorable billionaire taking over the information that the public receives, merely for his own benefit. This man does not live in Baltimore city, but in the county, in his big stone-castled estate, yet is trying to effect the outcomes of city politics and taxes, which, to be honest, are problematic. But having a right wing supporter of Moms For Liberty, Project Veritas, and other misinformation peddlers affecting our troubled city will not be pretty and lowers the intellect of every person that has access to the rubbish that he purveys. He is merely another Rupert Murdoch, raking in yet more cash, as he dumbs down and increases hate-inducing propaganda pitting American against American.
Spread the word to abandon this right wing monopoly. Let it crash & burn. We cannot afford this.
Sinclair media bought our local newspaper and one of our tv stations. I am deeply disturbed by this trend of bait and switch (misinformation) by journalists as we watch this ugly boil come to a head in our great country. Stop the madness, there are more of us than the millionaires and billionaires, all we have to do is collectively decide to stop this unnecessary suffering, then we shall set about cementing laws and policies that support We the People!
I feel for the journalists working at The Sun and mourn the loss of a once-great paper. But that mourning began long ago, let’s not kid ourselves. The good news is MAGA doesn’t read newspapers so this is just a rich-guy vanity deal.
Well, this is a disappointing turn of events.
I am currently reading Heather Cox Richardson's excellent new book "Democracy Awakening." In the opening chapters Richardson, who is a historian, traces the history of Nazism in the US in the late 30s and 40s. Part of the rise was finding a dissatisfied group and preaching to them, even if what you were selling was not good for them. Trump did that. Another was getting media "on their side." So, again Judd thank you for reporting this dismaying news. The real question is, how do we, as citizens living in other parts of the country stop or tame the beast?
Another fine exposé, Judd. I hate to see another great paper fall, but at least we know it thanks to you. We need a report on the other greats and their ownership status.
America is dying. Congress (ha ha) needs to reinstate that the media has to tell the truth! Reagan trashed that safeguard and look at us now. He was the beginning of what we’re now facing . The super rich need to be taxed out of existence Their tax rates were once 80%.. Fact check me please.
Suzanne you are a little off…taxes on the uber wealthy peaked at 90%! We need this now! ALL of us on the left must stop insulting Biden. We MUST re-elect him and get real Progressives in down ballot. Here is the choice: Biden or Fascism. People need to grow up, understand that Biden has had numerous positive accomplishments! There are things I strongly disagree with. This election is not about individuals nitpicking EVERYTHING! It is about saving our nation and if we allow the Fascist Republicans to take over, a minority, the international community will abandon the US in many ways, starting with eliminating our US$ as the basis for exchange…it’s already in trouble.
That rule only applied to broadcast TV not cable.
We are moving more and more into a fascist state. Remember that one of their tenets is to control the media and turn it into a propaganda vehicle. And where are all the Democratic billionaires? Why don’t some of them buy these papers instead? Looking at you, Tom Steyer.
It increasingly feels too late. The radical right minority is literally unstoppable.
First the Washington Post gets bought by Bezos, and now this. Maryland has been a faithful Democrat stronghold and it is worrisome that it appears the right has us in their crosshairs. I am seeing more comments under WaPo articles that readers are getting fed up with their "both-siderism" and lack of positive reporting on the current Administration; I have cancelled my paid subscription and see other comments saying they are doing the same. I hope this happens for the Sun too. Let them both fall into the abyss of right-wing fake news supporting billionaires and evangelicals; may they find their way to the Bad Place.
I see the same comments in the Post. I've read that they've lost 500,000 subscribers in the past few years. If not for Jennifer Rubin, Dana Milbank, and Alexandra Petri, plus it being my local paper, I'd cancel too. I get the Sunday paper delivered and it's part of my lifelong routine to read it with my coffee. Bezos laid off the entire Magazine staff at Christmas in 2022 and now offered buy outs to the long time staff. Alas none of the right wing hacks took it. You know, Bezos is barely getting by on his bazillions... 😂
I understand completely. It's good to maintain some comfort rituals in these crazy times, and I appreciate hearing the number of subscribers they are said to have lost.👍
" If not for Jennifer Rubin, Dana Milbank, and Alexandra Petri."
Agreed!
And I feel kind of bad when I see all of the comments disparaging the Wapo, that I continue to subscribe but as long as I derive value from their publication, I will continue to do so.
Unless, of course, it becomes a "right-wing rag." That's a Hot Potato that I won't hold.
Washington Post
Oct 11, 2023 — Interim CEO Patty Stonesifer called The Washington Post “a really good business” that “overshot on expense.” Now the company is reducing …
[It predicted a $100M loss for 2023.]
Wow!
Meanwhile, The Sunpapers started to fail years ago, and I thinkl that this purchase might be the last nail in the coffin. Otherwise, we have the Baltimore Banner, more generously financed, but primarily a lot of fluff reporting.
The Baltimore Brew, a small, underfunded group of investigative journalists, provides the important reporting on Baltimore City and County politics and corruption and really deserve support, but they are struggling.
If we don't support the responsible and serious journalistic outlets, our democracy will decline further. It is happening all over the country and that is what authoritarians desire most.
Thanks for the Baltimore Brew rec - I cancelled the Sun yesterday with a comment that I won't support right wing media just in case they pay any attention & subscribed to the Banner (but it does look like fluff reporting).
I don't agree that The Banner has "primarily a lot of fluff reporting". If more people subscribe to it, they can hire the Sun reporters and grow their reporting. Ditch the Sun and subscribe to The Banner!
This explains why my local news station, WJLA in DC, led the 11pm show with an onsite and lengthy report on Trump's win in Iowa. Sinclair owns it. I won't be watching this station anymore!
They also won’t admit his win was not the largest margin in history in the Iowa caucuses - except among GOP candidates. That’s why some headlines carry a subtle qualifier “GOP”.
2 Dems own that title. Tom Harkin had just over 76%. He was from Iowa so he had the ‘favorite son’ advantage. Jimmy Carter had 59%. Neither were incumbents or former presidents.
sad to again see that democracy up to recently was really upheld by handshakes between dudes agreeing to act reasonably and in the best interests of the public. Young people have been showing up in small pockets to provide reporting and broadcast media. I hope this can continue and spread. Non profit or subscription-based seem to be the way forward.
The "left" sure controls the media, doesn't it?
The Baltimore Banner's story (https://www.thebaltimorebanner.com/economy/baltimore-sun-david-smith-sinclair-owner-F77S3D47ORD7LNEPZ7PJCXSLWM/), which included anonymized comments from journalists who attended the meeting with Smith, suggests that if anything, you're downplaying how bad this is going to get, Judd -- and I can't recall ever thinking that about one of your stories before. Smith told the newsroom things like, "You're going to be doing polls [by which he means unscientific surveys] every day now" and "Go make me some money!" Those "polls," by the way, apparently aren't just for readers, but also will be used to determine what gets covered, which would seem to rule out any kind of enterprise reporting just for starters. A sad day for a historic paper that won a Pulitzer as recently as 2020.