--- title: "Baltimore Sun sold to media executive" description: "Plus, views from Americans who don't closely follow political news, and news outlets cancel New Hampshire GOP primary debates." date: "2024-01-18" authors: - name: "snaseer" url: "https://www.pewresearch.org/newsletter/the-briefing/baltimore-sun-sold-to-media-executive/" --- # Baltimore Sun sold to media executive ![](https://www.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/prc-logo.png){.aligncenter width=409} --- January 18, 2024 # The Briefing **☀️ Happy Thursday!** *The Briefing is your guide to the world of news and information*.* [**Sign up here!**](https://www.pewresearch.org/sign-up-for-the-briefing/)* **In today*’*s email:** - **Top story:** The Baltimore Sun has returned to local ownership - **New from Pew Research Center:** Views from Americans on the edge of politics - **In other news:** News outlets cancel New Hampshire GOP primary debates - **Looking ahead:** CNN’s new CEO explores digital subscription model - **Chart of the week:** Americans are following the news less closely than they used to 🔥 **Top story** [The Baltimore Sun](https://apnews.com/article/baltimore-sun-sale-local-conservative-52e31f67b75de46deef1a9dfe3528a91inclair/) has been sold to David D. Smith, the executive chairman of Sinclair Broadcast Group. This will **return The Sun to local ownership** for the first time in decades. Within the newsroom, [some are concerned about the sale](https://www.washingtonpost.com/style/media/2024/01/17/baltimore-sun-staff-meeting-david-smith-sinclair-alden/) due to Smith’s conservative politics and previous criticism of print media. Smith is seeking to make The Sun more profitable at a time when both** circulation and revenue have been trending downward** for [local newspapers nationwide](https://www.pewresearch.org/journalism/fact-sheet/local-newspapers/) for years. The total combined print and digital circulation for locally focused U.S. daily newspapers in 2020 was 8.3 million for weekday (Monday-Friday) and 15.4 million for Sunday, representing declines of 40% and 45%, respectively, since 2015. And revenue from advertising has declined even more steeply than circulation revenue over that span. 🚨 **New from Pew Research Center** A new [essay from Pew Research Center](https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2024/01/09/tuning-out-americans-on-the-edge-of-politics/) based on a series of focus groups conducted last year explores the views and experiences of Americans who do not feel strongly connected to any one political party and **who don’t closely follow the news about politics and government**. One participant offered the following take: “You don’t know what to believe; it’s so much information to soak in that you sometimes don’t know if it’s true or not.” 📌 **In other news** - **ABC News** **and CNN** [cancel New Hampshire Republican primary debates](https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/17/us/politics/cnn-abc-republican-debate-canceled.html) - **Houston nonprofit newsroom** ["blindsided" by firing of top editor and reporter](https://www.niemanlab.org/2024/01/the-houston-landings-newsroom-is-blindsided-by-the-firing-of-its-top-editor-and-a-star-reporter/) - AI news app **Artifact **to [shut down](https://mashable.com/article/artifact-news-app-is-shutting-down) - **News outlets draw backlash **for calling the [Iowa caucus unexpectedly early](https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/15/us/politics/trump-iowa-caucus-race-call.html) - **OpenAI announces plans** to [combat misinformation and abuse](https://www.axios.com/2024/01/15/chatgpt-openai-2024-elections) ahead of the 2024 elections - **Kyrgyzstan** detains several journalists in [raids targeting independent media](https://www.voanews.com/a/kyrgyzstan-authorities-raid-news-outlets-detain-10-reporters/7442801.html) 📅 **Looking ahead** New **CNN CEO Mark Thompson **[told The Wall Street Journal](https://www.wsj.com/business/media/new-cnn-boss-shakes-up-news-operations-explores-digital-subscription-model-db12e796?mod=followamazon) that he is considering trying to monetize CNN’s content through a **digital subscription model** that would enhance the mobile video news experience. Thompson also said he plans to combine newsgathering into a single TV-and-digital unit. **The average number of TVs tuned in to CNN for the prime news time slot declined 25% in 2022,** from an average audience of about 1.1 million in 2021 to 828,000 in 2022, according to [our recent analysis of Comscore data](https://pewresearch.org/pewresearch-org/journalism/fact-sheet/cable-news/). This contrasts with a rise in viewership for Fox News and a more modest decline for MSNBC. CNN’s total revenue also decreased by 5%, from $1.9 billion in 2021 to $1.8 billion in 2022. 📊 **Chart of the week** This week’s chart comes from a recent blog post exploring the [decline in Americans’ attention to news](https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2023/10/24/americans-are-following-the-news-less-closely-than-they-used-to/). In 2016, 51% of U.S. adults said they follow the news all or most of the time. In 2022, the most recent time this question was asked, 38% of U.S. adults said the same. [![A line chart showing that 51% of U.S. adults said they follow the news all or most of the time in 2016, a percentage that decreases to 38% the most recent time this question was asked in 2022.](https://www.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/01/SR_23.10.24_following-news_1.webp?w=640){.aligncenter width=409}](https://www.pewresearch.org/newsletter/the-briefing/the-briefing-2024-01-18/sr_23-10-24_following-news_1-webp/) --- *👋 That's all for this week. * The Briefing is compiled by Pew Research Center staff, including Naomi Forman-Katz, Jacob Liedke, Sarah Naseer, Christopher St. Aubin, Luxuan Wang and Emily Tomasik. It is edited by Katerina Eva Matsa, Michael Lipka and Mark Jurkowitz, and copy edited by Rebecca Leppert. *Do you like this newsletter? 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