The first meeting between the conservative billionaire who just purchased the Baltimore Sun and the newsroom didn’t go as bad as it could have, but it didn’t go well.
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.”
Along with the Sun, he bought a network of community newspapers. Smith’s corporation operates over 200 television stations. He’s a major donor to conservative groups such as Moms for Liberty and Project Veritas (back before it imploded); he has deep roots in Baltimore and is influential in Baltimore politics. He’s also not a fan of print journalism.
The print media is so left wing as to be meaningless dribble which accounts for why the industry is and will fade away. Just no credibility.
[Full disclosure: I have my own beef with the Baltimore Sun. Many moons ago, I founded a Maryland politics blog named RedMaryland (original blogspot and archived). The focus was strictly on local politics, and we steered clear of as many national issues as we could. For one reason, that space was already taken, and for the second, it is easier to build coalitions around local stuff and introduce people to conservative principles if you aren’t carrying the baggage of what the GOP in Congress…or the White House…is doing. Two of my colleagues convinced the Baltimore Sun that a conservative voice was needed, and we got a blog space there, plus a weekly column. Media Matters targeted us for merely existing, and eventually, the Sun folded like a cheap suit. So I’m hardly a disinterested observer.]
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.
Former infantry officer, CGSC grad and Army Operations Center alumnus. Also an amateur historian (Colonial America) and a dabbler in historical fiction.
RedState member since 2004. “He would rather pinch off his own head than admit he’s wrong” — Daily Kos. Follow me on Twitter.