Maine news job cuts

Boston Globe with Ted Cohen

The Portland Press Herald, which was falling all over itself promoting the annual Maine Spelling Bee in today's paper, on the same day spelled out to 49 workers exactly what their futures are: you're fired.

The moral of the story is that the nonprofit Maine Trust for Local News, which owns 22 daily and weekly newspapers including the Press Herald and said it was hoping to save local news, is seemingly doing everything but.

Besides laying off 49 employees, it's dramatically reducing its print editions in an attempt to cut costs on print production and focus more on digital.

No reporters will be laid off, as the job cuts are focused on print production, circulation and advertising. The Maine Trust had 363 employees as of last month, meaning that the layoffs represent roughly 13.5 percent of its workforce.

Avery Yale Kamila, a former culture columnist who was ousted recently by the Portland paper, told Patch.com:

"I'm really concerned for the 49 people who lost their jobs. I'm also sorry to see Maine's iconic landscape of print publications shrink significantly.

"However," she added, "it's a big relief to hear that all writers and photographers are being kept on staff."

Three of the trust's daily papers — the Lewiston Sun Journal, Kennebec Journal, and Morning Sentinel in Waterville — will no longer publish on Saturdays and will be delivered via mail, as opposed to carriers.

And the Times Record in Brunswick, which previously published in print two times a week, will begin printing weekly the week of March 17.

Meanwhile, The American Journal, Biddeford Courier, Forecasters, Kennebunk Post, Lake Regions Weekly, Register Gazette, Scarborough Leader and the South Portland Sentry — all free weeklies — will stop printing entirely and exist solely online.

“Printed news products are an essential and ongoing part of the work we do, but every year the market for them in Maine grows smaller,” managing director Stefanie Manning said in a statement. “At the same time, the Maine Trust’s digital subscriptions rose last year by 11 percent, and digital advertising grew by 23.”

The cuts come less than three months after Manning told employees that the organization lost more than $500,000 in 2024 and that while digital subscriptions were up, it wasn’t enough to offset declines in revenue from print advertising.

Manning said at the time that the organization, which also includes the Portland Press Herald and the Lewiston Sun Journal, couldn’t rule out layoffs or the elimination of print papers.

At least eight Maine executives including its former chief executive, executive editors of the Press Herald and Sun Journal, and chief operating officer have departed in the past year.

The National Trust for Local News, of which the Maine trust is a subsidiary, is also searching for a new chief executive after its co-founder Elizabeth Hansen Shapiro stepped down as CEO in January.

The National Trust for Local News acquired the papers in 2023 for $15 million from Reade Brower, a Maine businessman.

While the trust is cutting staff, it expects to add reporters and editors this year with new beats, reporting positions, and new digital products, the organization said in a statement.

“To sustain and grow impactful journalism in Maine, we have to meet our readers where they are,” executive editor Carolyn Fox said in a statement. “Our digital expansion creates a stronger foundation for the Maine Trust, and we’re excited to build on that in partnership with the communities we serve.”