"We are deeply and profoundly sorry": The Baltimore Sun Apologizes
February 19, 2022 7:34 AM Subscribe
Instead of using its platforms, which at times included both a morning and evening newspaper, to question and strike down racism, The Baltimore Sun frequently employed prejudice as a tool of the times. It fed the fear and anxiety of white readers with stereotypes and caricatures that reinforced their erroneous beliefs about Black Americans.
The Editorial Board of the Baltimore Sun has published a lengthy apology for a long history of not only racial bias, but of publishing articles that further supported or enabled systemic racism.
The apology is long, detailed, and unsparing, covering its racist past, from running ads purchased by slave traders to campaigning against granting Blacks the right to vote, to encouraging segregation, to the slanted language and biased reporting of more recent decades. One can only hope other papers can begin to do the same kind of reflection and re-evaluation.
The apology is long, detailed, and unsparing, covering its racist past, from running ads purchased by slave traders to campaigning against granting Blacks the right to vote, to encouraging segregation, to the slanted language and biased reporting of more recent decades. One can only hope other papers can begin to do the same kind of reflection and re-evaluation.
> One can only hope other papers can begin to do the same kind of reflection and re-evaluation.
The Kansas City Star did a similar public apology (previously on MetaFilter) in late 2020, saying "We are telling the story of a powerful local business that has done wrong... That business is The Kansas City Star." Like The Sun, The KC Star also committed to a number of changes to internal practices and community outreach efforts. It'd be interesting to find out if there have been any significant improvements to their coverage, or any lasting effects from their commitment to do better. But at least these two outlets have started the process, which is more that can be said for hundreds of other papers with similar legacies of bias and complicity.
posted by tonycpsu at 9:43 AM on February 19, 2022 [3 favorites]
The Kansas City Star did a similar public apology (previously on MetaFilter) in late 2020, saying "We are telling the story of a powerful local business that has done wrong... That business is The Kansas City Star." Like The Sun, The KC Star also committed to a number of changes to internal practices and community outreach efforts. It'd be interesting to find out if there have been any significant improvements to their coverage, or any lasting effects from their commitment to do better. But at least these two outlets have started the process, which is more that can be said for hundreds of other papers with similar legacies of bias and complicity.
posted by tonycpsu at 9:43 AM on February 19, 2022 [3 favorites]
Hm. I wonder how, if at all, this relates to the Sun's acquisition by Alden Global Capital (via Tribune Publishing) in May 2021, or to the complete closure of the Baltimore printing facility and move to a printing facility in Delaware in January 2022.
I think these are related, but I think it's really the big downstream effect of them, plus other issues (e.g. stuff like this leading to definite quality reductions). As the current top reddit comment here put it, "In other words, please don't abandon us for the Baltimore Banner..." Background on the Banner, some coverage: 1, 2. I'm not sure exactly when it opens for real but within the last few days it seems to have begun some kind of soft opening, where you can subscribe and see a few articles (written by former Sun reporters, even).
(I don't mean to suggest that the Banner is necessarily going to actually fix any of these issues.)
posted by advil at 10:21 AM on February 19, 2022 [5 favorites]
I think these are related, but I think it's really the big downstream effect of them, plus other issues (e.g. stuff like this leading to definite quality reductions). As the current top reddit comment here put it, "In other words, please don't abandon us for the Baltimore Banner..." Background on the Banner, some coverage: 1, 2. I'm not sure exactly when it opens for real but within the last few days it seems to have begun some kind of soft opening, where you can subscribe and see a few articles (written by former Sun reporters, even).
(I don't mean to suggest that the Banner is necessarily going to actually fix any of these issues.)
posted by advil at 10:21 AM on February 19, 2022 [5 favorites]
The Baltimore Sun can be forgiven if and only if it spends the next 185 years running with an explicitly anti-hate, anti-racist, anti-bigotry editorial bias. The apology is the point where (in theory) they cease their downward spiral and begin the process of putting as much work into climbing out of that hole as they spend digging it. That is the bare minimum for demonstrating their repentance.
I also notice that nowhere in there do they name any of the still-living editors, writers and advertisers who contributed to their racist editorial bias for the past 185 years. Interesting.
posted by JohnFromGR at 4:15 PM on February 19, 2022 [5 favorites]
I also notice that nowhere in there do they name any of the still-living editors, writers and advertisers who contributed to their racist editorial bias for the past 185 years. Interesting.
posted by JohnFromGR at 4:15 PM on February 19, 2022 [5 favorites]
Related: Black City, White Paper. “The summer of 2020 forced a reckoning for the country, Philadelphia, and its newspaper. But after perpetuating inequality for generations, can The Inquirer really become an anti-racist institution?”
posted by MonkeyToes at 6:43 PM on February 19, 2022 [3 favorites]
posted by MonkeyToes at 6:43 PM on February 19, 2022 [3 favorites]
The suburb-focused online page of my local metro paper would regularly feature articles with the mugshots of Black people charged with shoplifting in the mostly-white area. They would leave these articles pinned for days and days on the top of the page even when other news would flow in. The only time these articles would get bumped is when ANOTHER Black person was charged with something. To the readers, it would easily appear as though there was a constant flow of this sort of thing when really it was fewer than 30-40 cases per year.
Meanwhile local residents are stopped left and right for drunk driving, not to mention ALSO shoplifting and other crimes but no mugshots and no articles and only a blurb in the police blotter -- which you had to really look for.
It's important to call this out when you see it. Write letters to the editor/whomever.
posted by thorny at 8:52 AM on February 20, 2022 [6 favorites]
Meanwhile local residents are stopped left and right for drunk driving, not to mention ALSO shoplifting and other crimes but no mugshots and no articles and only a blurb in the police blotter -- which you had to really look for.
It's important to call this out when you see it. Write letters to the editor/whomever.
posted by thorny at 8:52 AM on February 20, 2022 [6 favorites]
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posted by Faint of Butt at 9:39 AM on February 19, 2022 [7 favorites]