PORTLAND, Maine — Editor's note: The video attached to this story was published July 12, 2023.
The largest newspaper group in Maine is becoming a nonprofit with Tuesday's completion of the sale of more than 20 daily and weekly newspapers, including the Portland Press Herald.
The National Trust for Local News, which already owns two dozen newspapers in Colorado, is expanding its portfolio through the purchase of five daily newspapers and 17 weekly newspapers that were part of Masthead Maine. Former Masthead owner Reade Brower retained ownership of several weeklies that weren't part of the deal.
Terms of the transaction, which closed Tuesday, were not disclosed.
The newspapers will now fall under the umbrella of the Maine Trust for Local News.
The deal, which covers all of the state's daily newspapers except the Bangor Daily News, represents a trend toward a nonprofit business model as newspapers continue to struggle.
“I wouldn’t say it’s sweeping the country but we’re seeing this trend. And it’s a healthy one. Commercial news organizations are struggling from loss of advertising revenue,” said Tim Franklin, senior associate dean and leader of the Local News Initiative at Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism.
Local news is in crisis with the nation losing a quarter of its newspapers since 2005 and advertising revenue declining by as much as 80% over a decade, Franklin said.
The transformation from a commercial model to a nonprofit model was a positive outcome compared to other alternatives including corporate ownership that could've been more focused on making cuts to maximize profits, executives told Portland Press Herald employees at a meeting and celebration in South Portland.
“We’ve been reading about some of the really unpleasant outcomes for newspaper organizations across the country and I can’t imagine one that is more opposite," said former Masthead Maine CEO Lisa DeSisto, who'll continue her leadership role as CEO and publisher of the Maine Trust for Local News.
Reade Brower, the former owner, purchased MaineToday Media, the parent company of the Press Herald, the Kennebec Journal and Morning Sentinel, in 2015 and added newspaper groups and newspapers over the next several years.
He announced in March he was considering selling his media holdings and said he was open to different ideas including operating the newspapers as a nonprofit.
There is plentiful foundation and philanthropic money spent on digital startups and niche publications, so it's nice to see them purchasing a traditional entity with credibility instead of chasing something that's “shiny” and new, Franklin said.