The Baltimore Sun
The Baltimore Sun began its life on the 17th of May 1837. Arunah Shepherdson Abell established the paper alongside William Moseley Swain and Azariah H. Simmons. These three men had previously published the Public Ledger in Philadelphia just one year before. Abell brought experience from the Providence Patriot and newspapers in New York City and Boston to the venture. The first issue appeared as a four-page tabloid printed at 21 Light Street in downtown Baltimore during the mid-1830s. By 1851, operations moved to a five-story structure at the corner of Baltimore and South streets. This building became known as the Iron Building until it was destroyed in the Great Baltimore Fire of 1904. The newspaper survived that disaster and relocated again to Charles and Baltimore streets in 1906. There it remained for nearly fifty years while expanding its reach across Maryland.
In 1924, The Sun opened its first foreign bureau in London. Between 1955 and 1961, the organization added four new international offices. Cold War tensions drove the decision to establish a presence in Bonn, West Germany, in February 1955. That office later moved to Berlin. Eleven months after the Bonn opening, The Sun became one of the first U.S. newspapers to open a bureau in Moscow. A Rome office followed in July 1957, and a New Delhi bureau opened four years later in 1961. At its peak, the paper operated eight foreign bureaus. An advertisement from 1983 boasted that "The Sun never sets on the world." However, cost-cutting measures began dismantling this network in the 1990s. Tokyo, Mexico City, and Berlin bureaus closed between 1995 and 1996. Beijing and London fell victim to budget cuts in 2005. The final three bureaus, Moscow, Jerusalem, and Johannesburg, South Africa, closed by 2008 as Tribune Co. streamlined operations.
The Abell family owned The Sun until 1910 when local Black and Garrett families invested in the paper. Charles H. Grasty suggested their involvement and gained controlling interest alongside them. They retained the name A. S. Abell Company for the parent publishing company. In 1986, Reg Murphy sold the newspaper to the Times-Mirror Company of the Los Angeles Times. That same week ended a 115-year rivalry with the News American, which folded after being a Hearst paper since the 1920s. The Times-Mirror company was purchased by the Tribune Company of Chicago in 2000. By 2014, it transferred its newspapers including The Sun to Tribune Publishing. In February 2021, Alden Global Capital reached an agreement to acquire The Sun through Digital First Media. A planned sale to the Sunlight For All Institute backed by Stewart W. Bainum Jr. collapsed over operating agreements. Bainum subsequently founded The Baltimore Banner with a $50 million pledge. Daily circulation had fallen to 195,561 by 2010 while Sunday editions reached 343,552 readers.
David D. Smith closed a deal to buy The Baltimore Sun on the 15th of January 2024. As executive chairman of Sinclair Broadcast Group, he partnered with conservative commentator Armstrong Williams who holds an undisclosed stake. Smith sparred with reporters during his first newsroom visit and suggested emulating WBFF-TV's news philosophy. He dismissed concerns about public service journalism and claimed he did not read stories beyond headlines until December 2024 when he told photographer Amy Davis he had begun reading the paper. Readership fell by nearly half within the first year of ownership. At least twenty journalists left citing concerns over juvenile crime coverage and city government reporting. Managing editor Sam Davis retired in June 2024 while opinion editor Tricia Bishop succeeded him. Frederick N. Rasmussen resigned in January 2025 after working fifty-one years as the primary obituary writer. The guild raised ethical breaches regarding republished content from channel 45 and Williams columns describing immigrants and transgender people.
The Baltimore Sun has won sixteen Pulitzer Prizes throughout its history. H.L. Mencken maintained a forty-plus-year association with the publication starting in 1910 when The Evening Sun was established under his leadership. Other notable staff members include Rafael Alvarez, Linda Carter Brinson, Richard Ben Cramer, Russell Baker, A. Aubrey Bodine, John Carroll, Turner Catledge, Edmund Duffy, Thomas Edsall, John Filo, Jon Franklin, Jack Germond, James Grant, Mauritz A. Hallgren, David Hobby, Brit Hume, Gwen Ifill, Gerald W. Johnson, Kevin P. Kallaugher, Murray Kempton, Frank Kent, Tim Kurkjian, Laura Lippman, William Manchester, Jim McKay, Kay Mills, Robert Mottar, J. Reginald Murphy, Thomas O'Neill, Drew Pearson, Ken Rosenthal, Louis Rukeyser, Dan Shaughnessen, David Simon, Michael Sragow, John Steadman, Jules Witcover, and William F. Zorzi. Peter Schmuck wrote sports articles published only on weekdays while David Zurawik created the media blog Z on TV. The Sunday edition once featured rotogravure Maryland pictorial magazine sections showcasing works by acclaimed photographers like A. Aubrey Bodine.
Governor Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. issued an executive order on the 18th of November 2004, banning state employees from speaking to Sun columnist Michael Olesker and reporter David Nitkin. The paper filed a First Amendment lawsuit which was dismissed by a U.S. District Court judge before being upheld by the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Olesker resigned on the 4th of January 2006 following accusations of plagiarism involving material previously published in The Washington Post and The New York Times. Between 2006 and 2007, Thomas Andrews Drake leaked classified information to national security reporter Siobhan Gorman. Drake faced ten felony counts but all charges were dropped in June 2011 as the government acknowledged having no valid case against the whistleblower. On the 10th of September 2024, the Sun dismissed legal reporter Maddi O'Neill for raising questions about journalistic standards under new ownership. The Baltimore Sun Guild called the firing cowardly and emblematic of mismanagement while filing a federal complaint alleging protected concerted activity violations.
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Common questions
When did The Baltimore Sun begin its life and who established it?
The Baltimore Sun began its life on the 17th of May 1837. Arunah Shepherdson Abell established the paper alongside William Moseley Swain and Azariah H. Simmons.
Where was The Baltimore Sun located when it first started publishing in 1837?
The first issue appeared as a four-page tabloid printed at 21 Light Street in downtown Baltimore during the mid-1830s. By 1851, operations moved to a five-story structure at the corner of Baltimore and South streets known as the Iron Building until it was destroyed in the Great Baltimore Fire of 1904.
How many foreign bureaus did The Baltimore Sun operate at its peak and when were they closed?
At its peak, the paper operated eight foreign bureaus including locations in London, Bonn, Moscow, Rome, New Delhi, Tokyo, Mexico City, Berlin, Beijing, Jerusalem, Moscow, and Johannesburg. Cost-cutting measures dismantled this network starting in the 1990s with the final three bureaus closing by 2008 as Tribune Co. streamlined operations.
Who owns The Baltimore Sun as of January 2024 and what changes occurred under new leadership?
David D. Smith closed a deal to buy The Baltimore Sun on the 15th of January 2024. As executive chairman of Sinclair Broadcast Group he partnered with conservative commentator Armstrong Williams who holds an undisclosed stake while readership fell by nearly half within the first year of ownership.
How many Pulitzer Prizes has The Baltimore Sun won throughout its history?
The Baltimore Sun has won sixteen Pulitzer Prizes throughout its history. H.L. Mencken maintained a forty-plus-year association with the publication starting in 1910 when The Evening Sun was established under his leadership.