The Sun's New Owner Vows To Be Caretaker

A week after The Baltimore Sun was purchased in a private deal by David D. Smith, his partner Armstrong Williams offered his vision for the future of Maryland’s largest newspaper, promising to preserve and build on its 187-year-old legacy amid industry challenges.

Smith, executive chairman of the Hunt Valley-based television station owner Sinclair Inc., acquired Baltimore Sun Media from investment firm Alden Global Capital on Jan. 12, returning The Sun to local ownership for the first time in nearly four decades. Smith personally purchased the newspaper for what he said was at least $100 million along with the Capital Gazette papers in Annapolis, Carroll County Times, Towson Times and several other Baltimore-area publications.

Armstrong Williams

Williams, a well-known conservative talk show host, syndicated columnist and author who founded one of the nation’s largest minority-owned television broadcasting firms, said in his first extensive interview about the sale that he sees himself and Smith as “the next caretakers of this paper.”

“A caretaker is not really about the money but who will preserve it, who will appreciate what it really means,” Williams said. “I’ve owned many things in my life. This, to me, being in the print [business] with one of the top newspapers in the country, one of the top 10 cities in the country, it just swells my heart with such responsibility.”

Williams, 61, said he envisions the publications as vehicles for expanding — not limiting — viewpoints and coverage that’s important to the community, strives to be fair and objective, avoids bias and builds on trust with readers. He described the ownership as ambitious, aggressive and open to hiring.

“We want to do what’s best for the community, what’s best for the paper, the continued legacy. We have no agenda,” he said, other than “making The Baltimore Sun the prize of this region.”