The Baltimore Sun announced that they had acquired the assets of the Annapolis based Capital Gazette and the Carroll County Times from Landmark Media Enterprises. While the sale of The Capital (and sister publications) is not surprising (Landmark has been trying to sell the properties for several years), the sale to the Sun is a bit of a surprise considering they just acquired the City Paper. The transaction includes all of the Capital’s properties–print and online.
While the fate of The Capital as we know it is uncertain, a source at The Sun who was familiar with the transaction said that they are considering a 25% reduction in the workforce. They did not specify any particular departments.
As expected, tensions and speculation at The Capital, which has seen a lot of recent turnover, are running high; yet employees are keeping any specific opinions to themselves.
The acquisitions are thought to have been a calculated move to bulk up the Baltimore Sun Media Group’s properties prior to spinning them off. The Sun’s parent company, the Tribune Company out of Chicago, has indicated in security filings that it intends to spin off its publications and acquisitions will beef up the portfolio in an attempt to find a purchaser.
The publisher, president and CEO of the Baltimore Sun Media Group, Tim Ryan, is a local resident.
The twitterverse has been abuzz this morning with comments…
It's official @baltimoresun Media Group now owns everything http://t.co/voLYUJW3VB @CCTNews @gazette_net #Newspapers @spj_tweets @SPJWash
— Jill Yesko (@UMBJill) May 1, 2014
And the media world continues to shrink: Annapolis Capital To Be Sold to The Sun http://t.co/2Xg29LlIaA via @capgaznews
— Karin Siomporas (@k_jorgenporas) May 1, 2014
https://twitter.com/trnels/status/461894786329640960
Hope y'all like the Baltimore Sun, because it now has ALL your local new operations…http://t.co/qOc0YWdVdM http://t.co/N0vsb446sd
— danielvalentine (@danielvalentine) May 1, 2014
Pam Wood, a former Capital reporter who moved to the Baltimore Sun a little more than a year ago was unsure what it all meant.
Yes, @baltimoresun is buying @capgaznews. I do not know what this means for me or their reporters: http://t.co/vahsKdTtYj
— Pamela Wood (@pwoodreporter) May 1, 2014
Over the past two years, The Sun and other Baltimore based media have gained at least 4 reporters from The Capital and several others have left to pursue other opportunities.
The Capital no longer prints the paper in Annapolis. With consolidation, a local attorney that specializes in acquisitions expects that the current building will be sold and Annapolis operations will be consolidated.
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