The media landscape is changing fast in Maryland. In the Baltimore region, new ownership of The Sun is pulling what was once the state’s flagship news organization into a much-maligned agenda-driven channel, while the Baltimore Banner non-profit newsroom seeks to be a national model for how to fi nance and produce news. In the D.C. region, the Washington Post under Jeff Bezos has whacked its local news operations, leaving major gaps in the state’s most populous jurisdictions. In recent weeks, Hearst gutted the staff of once-dominant WBAL News Radio, and WMAR-TV switched to a format that eliminates news anchors and relies on much smaller staff. Where should Marylanders turn to for news, and who should they trust? Who is fulfilling the core functions of informing a distrustful populace at a time when the very concept of truth and facts is under attack? What is worth paying for? In the latest episode of Maryland Now, hosts Dori Henry, Josh Kurtz, and David Nitkin turn the microphone on their own industry, sitting down with T.J. Smith — who until recently was a host of a talk radio show on WBAL, and before that spokesperson for Baltimore City Police — and Miranda Spivak, a former Washington Post editor and former top editor at the Gazette newspapers. Together they trace the collapse of local news in Maryland and the D.C. region, from the era of packed press conferences and dedicated county bureaus to today’s landscape of newsroom layoffs, algorithm-driven consumption, and a public that increasingly can’t agree on what’s even true. In this episode: • How Pew Research shows the share of Americans following local news closely has dropped from 37% in 2016 to 21% in 2025 — and what’s been lost along the way, from WBAL cutting local programming to the Washington Post scaling back Maryland coverage• T.J. Smith on the erosion of local news bureaus, the blurred line between “journalist” and “influencer,” and how he tried to bridge the gap by recording his own press conference footage for outlets that could no longer send anyone• Miranda Spivak on the economics of local news, why subscription models may be the only sustainable path forward, and what it was like watching ownership change at the Washington Post• A candid assessment of the Baltimore Banner and Baltimore Sun — what’s working, what’s still missing, and the group’s take on the Sun’s shift under new ownership• The group’s own history covering the State House — including Josh Kurtz’s two years as The Gazette’s literal paper boy, hand-delivering newspapers to the Annapolis press pit• A frank conversation about media distrust, “flooding the zone,” and what happens to democracy when citizens no longer have a shared, trusted source of local information. Connect With the Show:  Questions, comments, or story ideas [email protected] Maryland Now is brought to you by Blended Public Affairs and produced by Carper Cre8tive. ...read more read less