Has only read paper four times in recent months First, if you didn’t know already, Sinclair Broadcasting is based in Baltimore, David Folkenflik reminds Threads readers: Post by @davidfolkenflik View on Threads About David D. Smith, Judd Legum adds: Smith is the son of Sinclair founder Julian Sinclair Smith and, along with his brothers, controls the company. Sinclair, a publicly traded company, owns or operates 185 local television stations across 86 markets. A 2018 study published in the American Political Science Review found that stations purchased by Sinclair “coverage of national politics at the expense of local politics” and undergo “a significant rightward shift in the ideological slant of coverage.” Smith is the executive chairman of Sinclair Inc., reports the startup Baltimore Banner. [Smith] told New York Magazine in 2018 he considered print media “so left-wing as to be meaningless dribble.” Asked Tuesday during the meeting whether he stood by those comments now that he owns one of the most storied titles in American journalism, Smith said yes. Asked if he felt that way about the contents of his newspaper, Smith said “in many ways, yes,” according to people at the meeting. Folkenflik again: Smith said he paid nine figures, a seemingly staggering sum. (Bezos paid $250M for the WashPost.) Unclear if the undisclosed figure includes the licensing fees required by Alden Global Capital, the hedge fund that sold the Sun. Smith will rely on Alden’s CMS and other services. Smith announced the Sun was profitable and that he’d make it more profitable.…