Soccer Dad

Eclipsing the sun?

There's a certain irony in this: Sun Joins a Growing List of Papers That Investors Aim to Take Private (h/t Presence)

A group of Baltimore business leaders headed by longtime politico Ted Venetoulis is angling to buy the Baltimore Sun, becoming the latest speculators aiming to rescue newspapers from the earnings grind of Wall Street and deliver them into private ownership.

In 1978 former Baltimore County Executive Venetoulis was involved in a four way race in the Democratic primary for Governor. The favorite was Acting Governor Blair Lee (and father, I believe, of the Gazette's columnist). Venetoulis was thought to be making big gains.

Then sometime shortly before the election, the Baltimore Sun endorsed a state cabinet member Harry Hughes. This wasn't your standard editorial page endorsement either. It was an extended endorsement that started on the front page of the paper.

It changed the dynamics of the race. The somewhat obscure Hughes won the nomination going away. Lee followed in second and Venetoulis finished far back in third place. It was quite surprising.

Now it appears that Venetoulis is angling for the agent that cut short his political career. Think that the Sun might try the same thing for Mayor O'Malley? (Not that it would work nowadays. The media are not trusted as they were 28 years ago.)

Technorati tags: Baltimore Sun, Ted Venetoulis.