Yesterday, FTVLive told you that David Smith, the executive chair of Sinclair, had purchased the Baltimore Sun newspaper.

Just a few hours into his new role as owner, it got ugly fast.

In his first meeting with the staff, Smith told employees he has only read the paper four times in the past few months, insulted the quality of their journalism and encouraged them to emulate Sinclair’s WBFF as a way to do Journalism.

WBFF is the Fox affiliate in Baltimore that doesn’t do so well in the ratings.

In an interview conducted back in 2018, Smith said he considered print media “so left-wing as to be meaningless dribble.”

In the meeting with the staff at the Sun, he was asked if he stood by those comments. Smith said yes.

Asked if he felt that way about the contents of his newspaper, Smith said, “In many ways, yes.”

The Baltimore Banner reports that Smith seemed to try and pit reporters against each other, asking them to rank who was the best in the newsroom. Several times throughout the meeting, he said he has “no idea what you do.”

The Baltimore Sun Guild said the “editorial direction” Smith described concerned many of its members.

My guess is you’ll be seeing a mass exodus of staff in the near future. Look for them to be replaced by lower-paid less experienced people.