Baltimore Sun management fired federal courts reporter Madeleine O’Neill on Monday, citing comments she made internally criticizing management’s approach to news coverage under its new owners.

“I am proud of the reporting I did at the Baltimore Sun. I have no regrets,” O’Neill told The Brew last night.

Formerly the legal affairs reporter at the Maryland Daily Record, O’Neill became an active member of The Baltimore Sun Guild after she was hired by The Sun in April.

She did not have union protection to challenge her termination because she was still on her nine-month probation period.

Sources said O’Neill was vocal on the newsroom’s internal Slack messaging channel about what she saw as declining journalistic standards since the newspaper was purchased by Sinclair Broadcast Group chairman David D. Smith.

The Guild, which is negotiating for a new contract, issued a statement to The Brew about their former member’s termination

“This week an employee and leader in the Baltimore Sun Guild was fired by management because of her outspoken advocacy on behalf of workplace and journalistic standards at the Sun,” a statement released by Guild Editorial Vice Chair Annie Jennemann said.

“This cowardly firing of a reporter in their new probationary period is the latest example of David Smith’s and Armstrong Williams’  mismanagement of the Sun,” the statement continued.

“The Sun Guild has been consistent that the Sun’s long-held journalistic and ethical standards are being undermined under this new ownership, who also seek to get rid of basic union protections like just cause at the bargaining table.”

Sources said O’Neill was informed of her firing by Tricia Bishop, the managing editor of The Sun.

Reached yesterday by The Brew, Bishop said, “We don’t comment on personnel matters.”

Tension in the Newsroom

The incident is the latest example of angst and frustration at the news organization since it was purchased in January by Sinclair Broadcast Group Executive Chairman David Smith.

The broadcast media mogul, with a history of embracing Donald Trump and promoting conservative perspectives, has been remaking the paper in ways that staffers say is undermining their credibility and is aimed at breaking the union.

Last month, Guild members held a lunchtime rally to protest the use of content they say does not meet journalistic standards – political news from Sinclair’s national desk in Virginia, lurid out-of-state crime stories generated by Sinclair television stations and other stories from its local flagship station, Fox45.

• Baltimore Sun staffers decry “non-union, sub-standard” Sinclair content in the paper under its new owners (8/14/24)

• Baltimore Sun’s new owner David Smith gave $100,000 to a PAC supporting Sheila Dixon (1/18/24)

The newsroom staff’s internal Slack channel has been the place where criticism of these changes has been aired and discussed to the increasing irritation of management, sources tell The Brew.

One example is the recent coverage of the fatal shooting of a Joppatowne High School student by a 16-year-old classmate. The paper named the shooter, going against the past policy by the Sun and most news organizations to withhold the names of juveniles charged with crimes.

“No policies are set in stone,” Bishop said when queried by The Brew. “We make decisions daily about how to cover stories and what details to include in real time based on a number of factors.”

Another source of internal discord has been the news stories and op-ed pieces in the Sun involving Smith who, with his family members, has become actively involved in local politics through hundreds of thousands of dollars in political campaign and PAC contributions.

The paper recently ran an op-ed by Jovani Patterson, chairman of People for Elected Accountability and Civic Engagement (PEACE), supporting a measure his group got onto the ballot in November to cut the size of the City Council from 14 districts to eight.

It was only after online pleas and internal complaints by staffers posting on Slack that the op-ed was edited to disclose who finances PEACE – “the Baltimore Sun’s principal owner David Smith.”

The ballot question is a controversial issue. Opponents urging voters to vote against shrinking the council – led by Mayor Brandon Scott – say it is an attempt by Smith to disempower the leadership of a majority-Black city, a charge that Smith has disputed.

Deep-Dive Journalism

Some staffers have left the paper since its purchase by Smith and co-owner Armstrong Williams, the conservative commentator and onetime assistant to U.S. Supreme Court Judge Clarence Thomas and aide to U.S. Senator Strom Thurmond.

Among those exiting most recently was photographer Jerry Jackson, a nearly three-decade Sun veteran, who was hired by the Baltimore Banner.

But others have remained, continuing to cover beats and undertake deep-dive projects.

O’Neill’s final story for the Sun, “Baltimore wins $80 million more in opioid settlement money,” was the latest in a series of pieces she did on the city’s efforts to sue drug manufacturers and distributors accused of contributing to the opioid crisis.

Among her stories on the topic was a 3,000 word article based on her review of thousands of pages of court records and a database of drug sales transactions compiled by The Washington Post to assess how prescription opioids and the companies that peddled them contributed to the crisis.

• More than half a billion opioid pills in 14 years: How prescriptions contributed to a crisis in Baltimore (8/2/24)

At the Daily Record, O’Neill’s work earned recognition from the Maryland Delaware DC (MDDC) Press Association.

Among her awards were first-place divisional honors in the breaking news category for coverage of a report naming 158 Catholic priests accused of abuse in the Archdiocese of Baltimore.

She also won first place for investigative reporting for documenting crime log backlogs and for general reporting for coverage of the Joshua Treem case, leading the U.S. attorney to have new rules for monitoring attorney communications.

• To reach a reporter: fern.shen@baltimorebrew.com