Author: Sophia Norton, guest writer

In October, it was announced that it plans to launch a new all-digital news media called The Baltimore Banner in Baltimore next year. 

The newspaper will be led by Stewart Bainum Jr., chairman and businessman of Choice Hotels. According to The Baltimore Fishbowl, the platform will be funded by The Venetoulis Institute for Local Journalism, a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting TV analyst and local news supporter Ted Venetoulis. Died in early October. 

Lauren Proudfoot, a junior in journalism at Towson University, said she would like to know how the Baltimore flag will affect the Baltimore Sun.

"I want to know whether the new news media will put the Baltimore Sun in a secondary position," Proudfoot said. 

According to the New York Times, Bainum Jr. had previously tried to acquire the Baltimore Sun, but after the failure, he now brought his own newspaper to Baltimore. 

"My initial reaction was that more local news is always a good thing," said Tyler Deville, a reporter for the Baltimore Sun. "And I do think that there are gaps in the news reports of The Sun. You can really use other people to solve this problem."

DeVille is currently The Sun's only reporter covering the Baltimore County government, which is also the third-largest jurisdiction in Maryland. 

"There is a huge loophole in the reports there, and it would be very interesting to see The Banner's plan to cover the suburbs of Baltimore," Deville said. "All of us are happy about the broader news ecosystem, and at the same time admit that competition will definitely come." 

DeVille said that when Bainum Jr. had no journalistic experience, reporters from The Sun expressed doubts about The Banner's ambitious goal of 100,000 subscribers.

"This must not only attract them [readers], but also keep them," Deville said. "In contrast, our company’s Chicago Tribune has 100,000 digital subscribers, so I don’t know how easy this is to achieve."

With the launch of The Banner, new job opportunities will be provided for journalists in the region. DeVille said that Sun reporters may make changes.

"I think anyone who says they don't think about it is lying," Deville said. "I was warned not to drink The Banner Kool Aid, so I think this is how many of us feel, but again, when it comes to wages and benefits, I think this is something executives need to worry about."

Towson University journalism junior Charles Doxzen (Charles Doxzen) said that he believes the game will stimulate the progress of the local press.

"I think this will inspire other publications to do better, do better research, and now have more competition and take their craft more seriously," Doxzen said. "If there are multiple people pursuing the same story and content, you [must] be the first and be more creative from your perspective, because if everyone writes the same way, nothing will stand out."

Doxzen expects The Banner's news reports to accurately reflect the good and bad in Baltimore.  

"Those who want to write for it are familiar with the community and care about Baltimore, and want to see it reported in an accurate way, but also reveal positive things, because a lot of news around Baltimore is very negative," Dokson Say. "Obviously, this should still be covered, but also to clarify some positive things and some things that are moving in the right direction."

Proudfoot looks forward to adding a new news media and hopes to have a new source of fair and reliable information. 

Proudfoot said: "It can be a bit difficult to decide what is new and what is fake when publishing news, especially if we don't know the source of their stories." "News media like the Baltimore Sun have spent some time Years of time to build their program list."

The Baltimore Sun has a deeply rooted history in Baltimore for nearly 200 years. It was established in 1837 and has been the main source of local news.  

"The sun's footprint has been around longer than any other news source in the area," Deville said. "It has been established. I believe it has a good reputation, and there will always be criticisms, which is fair. However, we have some very good reporters. I think the reason why the Sun continues to perform well is the reporters."

DeVille described the Baltimore journalist circle as an intimate community. With the addition of the Baltimore Flag reporters in the future, the community will soon increase.

"I think even if you work for different news media, I think we generally feel a kind of friendship, and I hope this kind of friendship can continue here," Deville said. "Maybe this can even lead to better stories and better reports."

Towson's Career Center has connections with many companies and provides students with internships and employment opportunities. Lorie Logan-Bennett, assistant vice president of career services at Towson University, said the Career Center is investigating The Banner.

"Since it is new, they will need a lot of people and new ideas, so for people like us who want to participate in the field and gain work experience when the paper is born, this may be a good opportunity," Kesen said. "Instead of the established sun, this is a bit just getting started. We can get in at an early stage and see how it develops." The Baltimore Flag will start in 2022 and plans to hire 50 starting reporters.