The Baltimore Sun printed its last newspaper in Baltimore city tonight. Baltimore Sun Media will print the Maryland based newspaper in Wilmington, Delaware. Furthermore, 139 jobs were eliminated in the move. The News Journal, a Wilmington paper owned by Gannett, will now print The Baltimore Sun, The Capital of Annapolis, the Carroll County Times and other affiliated publications.
The newspaper’s Sun Park facility opened in 1992. However, circulation of the print edition has declined in recent years. Sun Park was leased from Under Armour founder Kevin Plank.
Baltimore Sun Staff Bear Witness To the End
Sun reporter McKenna Oxenden shared that the Baltimore paper was not printed in house for 2 months. That was after the great fire of 1904. Other than that, the paper has always been printed in Baltimore.
Oxenden reports that Sun Park was able to accommodate the paper’s need to print in color. Baltimore Sun staff shared photos of the final press run Sunday evening. To be clear, the effort to write, edit, print and distribute a newspaper seven days a week is still an epic process.
The headlines on the final Baltimore published edition of the Sun include a report on Towson University.
Bryn Stole, Sun reporter, says presses will be dismantled in the coming months. Furthermore, the Sun will sell the press equipment, likely for scrap.
Sun reporters tipped their hats to the press staff tonight.
Era of Change
Many local newspapers are dealing with declining print circulation. For example, a batch of Gannett local newspapers announced the end of Saturday newspaper home delivery. According to the largest U.S. newspaper publisher, “most Gannett Co. newspapers” will end home delivery on Saturdays. To be clear, the publisher says the move is in response to “the ongoing dominance of digital news consumption.”
Alden Global Capital acquired the Sun’s parent company, Tribune Publishing, officially in May 2021. Alden has maintained a commitment to investment in local newspapers. In addition, the firm seeks to serve communities with “robust independent journalism over the long term.”
