[7] David Smith served as the chief executive officer and president of Sinclair Television Group, Inc. from 1988 to January 2017.
It has been reported that every news station under Sinclair's umbrella is required to syndicate commentary that comports with its owners' ideological views.
He was sentenced to community service, which was fulfilled by having Sinclair station WBFF produce reports on a local drug counseling program.
"[3] In January 2024, he reached a private agreement to buy The Baltimore Sun from the venture capital group Alden Global Capital, who had also just recently purchased the media properties from Tribune Publishing (longtime national media syndicate founded by the Chicago Tribune) then emerging from bankruptcy and a long period of financial instability.
[20] The paper also started republishing content from WBFF-TV and conservative news wire The Center Square,[21] as well as publishing columns written by Smith's daughter and features promoting restaurants owned by Atlas Restaurants Group, which is owned by Smith's nephew,[22] prompting criticism from the Baltimore Sun Guild.