A nonprofit organization aimed at maintaining local ownership of newspapers will purchase 22 Maine newspapers, including The Portland Press Herald and The Sun Journal of Lewiston.
The National Trust for Local News, a nonprofit founded in 2021, will buy the newspapers from Masthead Maine, a private company that owns most of the state’s independent media outlets, including five of its six dailies. Masthead Maine owner Reade Brower had signaled earlier this year that he was considering a sale.
The deal includes the five dailies and 17 weeklies, Elizabeth Hansen Shapiro, chief executive of the National Trust for Local News, said on Tuesday.
Ms. Hansen Shapiro said Maine residents told her organization there was a charitable property opportunity after Bill Nemitz, a longtime columnist for the Portland Press Herald, asked readers for a donation in April to help a charitable organization get involved help keep local journalism in the state.
“We firmly believe in the power of independent, impartial local journalism to strengthen communities and forge meaningful connections,” said Ms. Hansen Shapiro. “We understand the critical role Masthead Maine and its respected publications play in bringing reliable, quality news to Maine communities.”
The deal is expected to be finalized by the end of July, she said. She did not want to name the selling price.
In addition to the Portland and Lewiston newspapers, the sale also includes The Kennebec Journal in Augusta, The Morning Sentinel in Waterville and The Times Record in Brunswick. The state’s sixth daily newspaper, The Bangor Daily News, remains owned by Bangor Publishing Company.
“This could be the most important moment in the history of Maine journalism,” Steve Greenlee, editor-in-chief of The Portland Press Herald and The Maine Sunday Telegram, said in an email. “Our news coverage has always strived to serve the greater good, and now our business model will be aligned with that mission.”
Many local newspapers have had to close over the past 20 years, eroded by declining print runs and declining advertising revenues. Private equity firms and hedge funds have been buying up distressed assets in recent years, often weakening dwindling newsrooms even further. Investment firm Alden Global Capital has become the second largest newspaper operator in the country.
In recent years, a number of not-for-profit news organizations have sprung up in the United States to try to manage the local news crisis and fill a void left by newspaper closures. These include outlets like The Baltimore Banner and Honolulu Civil Beat.
Based in Denver, the National Trust for Local News was formed with the goal of preserving local news organizations by helping them find ways to become sustainable. Through a partnership with The Colorado Sun, the organization owns 24 local newspapers in Colorado. Philanthropic donors include the Gates Family Foundation, the Google News Initiative, and the Knight Foundation.
The executive of the News Guild of Maine, the union that represents nearly 200 newspaper workers, said in a statement he was grateful Mr Brower chose to “pursue a not-for-profit business model rather than give his companies to the bad.” Selling actors have decimated news organizations across the country.”
“We see the non-profit model as one that is better able to sustain the dual nature of journalism as a consumer product and a public good,” the board said.