The Baltimore Sun, the largest newspaper in Maryland, has been acquired in a private deal by David D. Smith, executive chairman of Hunt Valley-based television station owner Sinclair Inc.
Smith said Monday that he acquired Baltimore Sun Media on Friday from investment firm Alden Global Capital, marking the first time in nearly four decades that The Sun will be in the hands of a local owner.
Smith decided to personally buy the newspaper, along with the Capital Gazette papers in Annapolis, Carroll County Times, Towson Times and several other Baltimore-area weeklies and magazines, because of the publications’ focus on local news in the Baltimore area.
“I’m in the news business because I believe … we have an absolute responsibility to serve the public interest,” Smith said in an interview. “I think the paper can be hugely profitable and successful and serve a greater public interest over time.
We have one job, to tell the truth, present the facts, period. That’s our job.”
Heath Freeman, president of Alden, did not respond to a request for comment Monday, but the deal was confirmed in a statement from Alden’s MediaNews Group. Alden bought The Sun as part of its $633 million acquisition of the Chicago-based Tribune Publishing newspaper chain in May 2021, becoming the second-largest newspaper owner in the U.S.
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