We all know the danger of hedge funds taking over local media, so we should be thrilled the Baltimore Sun is back in the hands of a local owner. But here's the catch: He's the CEO of Sinclair Inc., the notorious right-wing media group.
Yes, David E. Smith has purchased The Baltimore Sun, the city’s oldest newspaper, from Alden Global Capital, putting an institution that has been reporting on the state for more than a century back into the hands of local owners for the first time since 1986. Via the Baltimore Banner:
Smith, the executive chairman of media company Sinclair Inc., personally purchased The Baltimore Sun Media Group, which includes The Sun and its affiliated newspapers, including The Capital and Maryland Gazette newspapers in Annapolis, the Carroll County Times, the Howard County Times and the Towson Times, from Alden, an investment firm and former hedge fund known for draconian cost-cutting measures. Sinclair, based in Hunt Valley, owns more than 200 television stations, including Fox 45.
The Sun said Smith intends to invest in the paper, increasing coverage of local communities and investing in investigative work.
For more than a decade, local foundations and individuals, have attempted to get the paper, founded by A.S. Abell in 1837, back into local hands since it had been sold by the Abell family to Times Mirror in the 1980s, but were never able to make a deal with the Tribune Publishing Company to sell.
He loves to support wingnut groups:
Smith has given generously over the years to conservative and local causes through his David D. Smith Family Foundation. Tax forms obtained by The Banner show that since 2015 he has given $581,000 to Young Americans for Liberty, $536,000 to Project Veritas, $150,000 to Turning Point USA, and $121,000 to Moms for Liberty.
He’s also given $413,000 to the GBMC Foundation, $208,200 to the Baltimore Humane Society, $205,000 to the House of Ruth Maryland, and $145,900 to the Living Classrooms Foundation.
But mostly, I remember him for this story from 1996:
The president of Baltimore-based Sinclair Broadcast Group Inc., which owns the local Fox television affiliate, was arrested Tuesday night and charged with committing a perverted sex act in a company-owned Mercedes, city police said.
David Deniston Smith, 45, of the 800 block of Hillstead Drive in Timonium, who also is Sinclair’s chief executive, was arrested in an undercover sting at Read and St. Paul streets, a downtown corner frequented by prostitutes, Baltimore police said yesterday.
Smith and Mary DiPaulo, 31, were charged with committing unnatural and perverted sex act. Smith was held overnight at the Central Booking and Intake Center and released on personal recognizance at 2 p.m. yesterday. DiPaulo’s bail status was not available.
Good luck, Baltimore! You're probably going to need it.
