David Smith, executive chairman of Sinclair, has acquired The Baltimore Sun from Alden Global Capital, the investment company that has been criticized for buying newspapers, selling their assets and cutting their staff.
Sinclair said the transaction was made with Smith’s personal assets and the broadcaster has no involvement with the purchase.
Sinclair, which owns or operates 185 television stations, started in Baltimore with WBFF.
Financial terms were not disclosed.
Before being sold to Alden, The Sun was owned by Tribune Publishing. The Sun reported that this is the first time in four decades the paper was owned locally.
“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,” Smith told the paper. “We have one job, to tell the truth, present the facts, period. That’s our job.”
Sinclair has been controversial in the past for making its stations air conservative editorials.
Smith will continue in his current roles at Sinclair, the company said.
