Surviving ink-stained journalists of the Baltimore Sun will gather this Saturday, Oct. 5, at 11 a.m. at McKeldin Square near Harborplace, and hope folks will notice and still care.
They’re trying to hold onto the fading wisps of greatness that once defined their newspaper.
The Sun isn’t alone in its troubles, but the name of Saturday’s rally — “Save the Soul of The Sun” — hints at the current desperation.
These Sun folks say they haven’t gotten a raise in 11 years. They’ve seen their newsroom, once home to more than 400 journalists, reduced over the past two decades to about 60 people, and its home office moved repeatedly from the once-imposing building on North Calvert Street to ever-shrinking quarters around town.
Circulation that once reached around 200,000 on weekday mornings (and roughly the same figure in the afternoon with the now-defunct sister Evening Sun) is now about half that number online and, at last count, 26,000 print circulation.
Veteran observers say the paper’s once-meticulous reporting and editing standards have been compromised by new owners David Smith and Armstrong Williams. Smith is the executive chairman of Sinclair Broadcast Group, which owns Fox 45 News. The Sun now runs news stories reported by Fox 45.
In an email over the weekend, veteran Sun staff photographer Amy Davis wrote about “Save the Soul of The Sun,” “Our rally title may sound overly dramatic, but this is an existential fight. We are pushing back as hard as we can against the meddling of our new owners, David Smith and Armstrong Williams.
“Since their takeover early this year, our credibility as a trusted news source has been damaged. Equally disturbing is their union-busting strategy at the bargaining table against workers who have not seen across-the-board raises in 11 years.”
Those are brave words from Davis, who knows what happened to the last Sun employee who complained out loud: Madeleine O’Neill, the paper’s federal courts reporter who was fired two weeks ago after criticizing management’s approach to news coverage.
O’Neill, formerly the legal affairs writer for the Maryland Daily Record but hired at The Sun last April, didn’t have Guild union protection to challenge her termination because she was still on her nine-month probation period.
O’Neill told Baltimore Brew, “I am proud of the reporting I did at the Baltimore Sun. I have no regrets.”
A statement from the Sun Guild called the firing “cowardly.”
These are troubled times for newspapers — and TV and radio news operations — around the country. But The Sun was once one of America’s top 10 newspapers, read each morning by government and business leaders, and respected around the world. On Saturday, they’ll see if they’ve got any respect left in the heart of their own hometown.
A former Baltimore Sun columnist and WJZ-TV commentator, Michael Olesker is the author of six books, including “Journeys to the Heart of Baltimore” and “Michael Olesker’s Baltimore: If You Live Here, You’re Home.”
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