The
Portland Press Herald

Portland Press Herald (and
Maine

Maine Sunday Telegram; collectively
known as The Portland Newspapers) publish daily newspapers in the city
of Portland, Maine, in the United States. Serving the state's largest
and principal commercial city, as well as much of southern Maine, the
Press Herald and
Maine

Maine Sunday Telegram form the largest-circulation
newsroom in the state.
The Portland Newspapers throughout most of the 20th century were the
cornerstone of Guy Gannett Communications's media holdings, which
included two other daily newspapers in Maine. In 1998, these
newspapers were sold to The Seattle Times Company; ten years later,
they were purchased by MaineToday Media.
Contents
1 Awards
2 History
3 Bureaus
4 Editorial line
5 Online
6 Anti-Semitism controversy
7 Prices
8 References
9 External links
Awards[edit]
On June 28, 2016, the series "Payday at the Mill" and reporters Whit
Richardson and Steve Mistler received a
Gerald Loeb Award in the
"Local" category.[3]
In 2012, reporter
Colin Woodard received the 2012 George Polk Award
for the story, "
Special

Special Report: The profit motive behind virtual
schools in Maine" in the category, "Education Reporting."
History[edit]
The Press Herald was founded in 1862 on Congress Street. Notable
alumni of the paper include longtime Washington correspondent May
Craig and current
Boston Herald

Boston Herald sports columnist Steve Buckley.
On March 17, 2008, the Press Herald converted from its traditional
multi-section format to two sections. A brief editorial highlighted
advertising concerns and said the other sections could be found
online. The next day, The Seattle Times Company, its owner at the
time, announced that it was putting the Press Herald and its other
Maine

Maine newspaper properties up for sale.[4]
After more than a year on the market, on June 15, 2009, the papers
were sold to MaineToday Media, Inc., headed by
Maine

Maine native Richard L.
Connor, publisher of
Times Leader in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, with
financing from
HM Capital Partners

HM Capital Partners and Citizens Bank.[5] Although
MaineToday originally announced a plan to move the paper's offices out
of downtown into the South Portland printing plant,[6] it was later
reported that the company's headquarters would move to One City Center
in downtown Portland.[7]
As part of the sale, Portland Newspaper Guild members took a
10-percent pay cut in exchange for 15-percent ownership in MaineToday
Media. More than 30 non-union jobs were eliminated.[8]
Effective June 1, 2015,
MaineToday Media was sold to Reade Brower,
owner of a number of midcoast
Maine

Maine newspapers and a printing
operation in Brunswick, Maine.[9]
Bureaus[edit]
The Portland Newspapers formerly maintained news bureaus in Augusta,
Biddeford, Bath, and Washington, DC; all were closed in July 2008,[10]
but the Augusta bureau was reopened in early 2012. The papers continue
to operate six circulation depots, in Bath, Saco, Sanford, South
Portland, Windham and Yarmouth, Maine. The daily Press Herald
circulates six days per week in five counties: Cumberland, Knox,
Lincoln, Sagadahoc and York. On Sundays, the
Maine

Maine Sunday Telegram is
sold statewide.
MaineToday Media also owns the Central
Maine

Maine Newspapers, publisher of
the
Morning Sentinel

Morning Sentinel in Waterville and the
Kennebec Journal

Kennebec Journal in
Augusta; and
Maine

Maine Community Publications, which publishes The Coastal
Journal, a community newspaper serving the Bath-Brunswick area.
Editorial line[edit]
The Press Herald and Sunday Telegram editorial board was once
generally viewed to have center-left political views. It endorsed the
2003 Iraq War, but has since criticized the war's execution. In
Maine's 2006 campaign for governor, it endorsed John Baldacci, the
incumbent Democrat, who was reelected. In the 2004 presidential
election, the paper endorsed Democrat John Kerry, who won
Maine

Maine but
lost the national election. In 2008, it endorsed Barack Obama, who won
both
Maine

Maine and the general election.
However, under Richard Connor, the paper moved to the center, causing
some in relatively liberal Portland to abandon the paper in favor of
the city's free daily newspaper, The Portland Daily Sun, or for the
Bangor Daily News, which made inroads into the Portland market.[11] In
2010, it endorsed conservative Republican candidates (Dean Scontras
and Jason Levesque) in both of Maine's congressional districts.[12]
They were both defeated by the Democratic incumbents, Chellie Pingree
and Mike Michaud. For Maine's gubernatorial election that same year,
it endorsed moderate independent former Democrat Eliot Cutler, a
childhood friend of Connor, who came in second with 34% of the vote.
On October 28, 2011, Connor announced his resignation effective
December 31, 2011.[13] The newspaper's parent company later accused
him of misusing over $500,000 in company funds for personal use, and
announced that their insurance company had paid the company $538,000
under the company’s employee theft insurance policy.[14]
Since Connor resigned the paper has moved further and further left. It
endorsed Democrat Hillary Clinton, who won three of Maine's four
electoral college votes but lost in the general election.[15] The
paper endorsed an override of Governor Paul LePage's veto of L.D 1504
a pro-solar energy bill. The bill was heavily supported by state
Democrats[16] and it endorsed Democrat Ethan Strimling, who won
Portland's 2015 Mayoral race.
Online[edit]
Content from the
Portland Press Herald

Portland Press Herald appears on its website
pressherald.com.
The domain name Portland.com was originally the Web address for the
papers, but was sold to a marketing firm and became a visitor's guide
for the city of Portland, Oregon, in May 2004.
Anti-Semitism controversy[edit]
The Religion and Values section of the Saturday, February 3, 2007,
edition of the Press Herald included an ad from the First Baptist
Church of South Portland, which listed the sermon as "The Only Way to
Destroy the Jewish Race". This caused outrage in Greater Portland's
Jewish Community[17] and led to an apology by the minister of that
church.[18]
However, less than two weeks later, People's Choice Credit Union ran
an ad in the February 14, 2007, edition of the Press Herald that
depicted a bearded "Fee Bandit" that resembled a Hasidic Jew, eager to
take people's money.[19] This incident prompted investigations by the
Anti-Defamation League; Steven Wessler, director of the Center for the
Prevention of Hate Violence and the person in charge of dealing with
hate crimes in the state; and the Jewish Community Alliance. The
newspaper's management later apologized for printing the
advertisements in question without checking them first, and said it
they would scrutinize ad content more closely before printing.[18][20]
Prices[edit]
The Press Herald daily price is $1.80. The Sunday Telegram price is
$2.80 in southern and coastal
Maine

Maine and $3.30 elsewhere. Digital
subscriptions are $9.99 per month plus tax.[21]
References[edit]
^ http://thebollard.com/2014/06/02/media-mutt-121/
^ Quantcast
Quantcast

Quantcast numbers
^ "2016 Winners UCLA Anderson School of Management".
www.anderson.ucla.edu. Retrieved 2016-08-20.
^ Harkavy, Jerry. "Seattle Times Co. Puts
Maine

Maine Newspapers Up for
Sale". Bangor Daily News, Bangor, Maine, Page 9, March 18, 2008.
Accessed February 7, 2012.
^ "
MaineToday Media Acquires
Maine

Maine Newspapers, Online Information
Portal

Portal and Related Real Estate Assets". Business Wire, June 15, 2009.
Retrieved on September 14, 2010.
^ "Newspaper's Downtown Buildings to Be Sold". Portland Press Herald,
Page A1, July 17, 2009.
^ "Newspaper Moving to Space in One City Center." Portland Press
Herald, Page A1, February 26, 2010.
^ "New Owner:
Maine

Maine Papers Poised to be Profitable". The Seattle
Times, June 16, 2009.
^
MaineToday Media sale closes Tux Turkel, Portland Press Herald, June
1, 2015
^ Guttman, Jeannine. "New Chapter Ahead for Staff, Paper". Maine
Sunday Telegram, July 6, 2008.
^ "Media Mutt:
Bangor Daily News

Bangor Daily News Beefs Up"
^ "Our Endorsements for Congress". Portland Press Herald, October 24,
2010.
^ Richard Connor steps down as CEO of MaineToday Media, Bangor Daily
News, October 28, 2011
^
http://www.pressherald.com/2013/04/24/connor-mtm-mainetoday-publisher-press-herald-maine-desisto/
^ Board, The Editorial (2016-09-25). "Our View:
Hillary Clinton

Hillary Clinton is our
choice for president - Portland Press Herald". Press Herald. Retrieved
2017-08-06.
^ Board, The Editorial (2017-08-01). "Our View: Solar proposal remains
the best path forward for
Maine

Maine - Portland Press Herald". Press
Herald. Retrieved 2017-08-06.
^ Conroy, Erin, and James Vaznis. "Anti-Semitism Sermon Title Rankles
Maine

Maine Jews". The Boston Globe, February 5, 2007.
^ a b "Dateline World Jewry", April 2007, World Jewish Congress
^ Erskine, Rhonda. "Credit Union, Newspaper Apologize for
Controversial Ad". WSCH6.com, February 16, 2007.
^ "Newspaper Vows Closer Scrutiny of Ad Content". Portland Press
Herald.
^ "Press Herald Subscriptions". pressherald.com. Retrieved
2018-01-18.
External links[edit]
Portland Press Herald

Portland Press Herald and
Maine

Maine Sunday Telegram website
MaineToday.com
Today's
Portland Press Herald

Portland Press Herald front page at the
Newseum

Newseum website
v
t
e
MaineToday Media
Newspapers
The Coastal Journal
Kennebec Journal
Maine

Maine Sunday Telegram
Morning Sentinel
Portland Press Herald
Related topics
Evening Express
Guy Gannett Communications
The Sea