Longtime Baltimore Sun reporter chides owner David D. Smith in resignation announcement

It’s no secret that ever since Sinclair Broadcast Group executive chairman David D. Smith purchased the Baltimore Sun in 2024, there has been mounting concern about the degradation of the storied newspaper as it aligns coverage with his personal views and whims.

That’s meant that some of the newspaper’s best and brightest have moved on, sometimes by choice and sometimes not. Longtime Washington correspondent and sports business reporter Jeff Barker is the latest journalist to sever ties with the Sun, though not before a bit of a parting shot as he walked out the door.

“I’ve resigned from The Baltimore Sun after 25 years of politics and sports reporting,” wrote Barker on X Monday. “I was proud to have been there during a long period when our reporting followed the facts wherever they happened to lead.

“I’m not saying anything readers can’t see for themselves, but The Sun has changed since its purchase by David Smith, executive chairman of the Sinclair Broadcast Group. I no longer fit there.

“I’m grateful to the sources whose trust enabled me to report responsibly, and to the readers who supported our work.”

I’ve resigned from The Baltimore Sun after 25 years of politics and sports reporting. I was proud to have been there during a long period when our reporting followed the facts wherever they happened to lead. I’m not saying anything readers can’t see for themselves, but The Sun… pic.twitter.com/ufchUOIk34

— Jeff Barker (@JeffBarkermedia) June 22, 2026

While politics made up much of his coverage, Barker extensively covered Maryland Terrapins basketball and football for The Sun.

While we don’t know whether a specific incident prompted Barker’s resignation from the place he’s worked since 2000, many troubling details and reports are already circulating about the newspaper’s editorial and reputational decline since Smith took over.

The newspaper’s editorial direction has been more slanted towards conservative coverage, even republishing content from WBFF-TV and conservative news wire The Center Square. It has also infamously published columns written by Smith’s daughter and features promoting restaurants owned by Atlas Restaurants Group, which is owned by Smith’s nephew.

In April, Politico reported Smith issued a mandate to Baltimore Sun staff to “expose fraud and misdeeds among Democratic politicians in the state”, and that Smith was “deeply involved” with the paper’s investigations into Maryland governor Wes Moore. Moore criticized Smith’s ownership of The Sun, lamenting that the newspaper was once the city’s “paper of record” but had declined into “right-wing tribble.”

Sinclair Broadcast Group, of which Smith is the chairman, is also well known for aggressively featuring content and disinformation that promote conservative political positions, including news coverage and election-season specials that directly support the Republican Party, across its nearly 200 television stations.

Many of the Baltimore Sun‘s journalists have left the company as a result of changes made by Smith and conservative columnist Armstrong Williams, with Barker becoming just the latest.