The Sun, WMAR Form Partnership

"It’s a service for viewers, readers, advertisers and our companies," said Drew Berry, WMAR general manager.

Sun Publisher Michael E. Waller said the agreement would allow the paper to gain broader currency for its journalism and to obtain far more promotion spots than a limited budget currently allows. The station will run approximately 1,200 spots a year, or three 10-second spots a day, Waller said.

The Sun has lost some circulation in recent years as it has abandoned the pursuit of single-day sales in favor of stronger home subscription figures, audited figures show.

WMAR (Channel 2), which lags in ratings in the Baltimore market, hopes to use the affiliation to distinguish itself from its competitors and is already touting the arrangement, saying it has created the largest news operation in Maryland.

The arrangement is likely to include a Sun-generated daily business report on WMAR’s newscasts, recurring segments featuring the newspaper’s cultural critics, and, on the late news shows, roundups of headlines in the next morning’s Sun. The two media outlets agreed to swap advertising space for commercial air time. In addition, WMAR’s forecasters will be featured on the newspaper’s weather page.

Channel 2 also has paid for a camera and mini-studio to be installed in The Sun’s newsroom, where reporters are to be interviewed for WMAR newscasts.

During a staff meeting at The Sun with Waller, several Sun journalists expressed concerns that exclusive stories could be revealed prematurely, before the paper has been published. Others registered skepticism on different grounds.

Waller said the involvement of the newspaper’s reporters would be voluntary and would offer them the chance to master a new medium.

WMAR is owned by the E.W. Scripps company, while the Tribune Co. is the corporate parent of The Sun.

– excerpted from The Sun