Two Maine news outlets competing for "Worst Journalism" prize

By Ted Cohen/Patch.com

When the Maine Monitor website blared that the state's electric rates are zooming but never explained why, not far behind was the Portland Press Herald to seal that prize with a kiss.

The two news outlets seem to be competing for a prize soon to be inaugurated by the Maine Press Association: Worst Journalism 2025.

The Monitor published a hollow, opus-length, eye-glazing piece reporting that Maine's increasing power rates are now among the highest anywhere.

The only folks in Maine who found that to be a revelation were those on the payroll at the state's largest paper.

In fact, within minutes of the Monitor piece hitting the street, the Portland Press Herald republished it as though it were ... news.

Talk about being in bed together ...

In days gone by, news outlets competed to be the best.

But judging from the latest display of journalistic cohabitation in the Pine Tree State, the Monitor and the Press Herald are competing to be the worst - and most awkward - domestic partners in the northeast.

The problem with the skyrocketing-electric-rate story - in case the Monitor and the Press Herald didn't notice - was that it never asked or answered a simple question: why.

To get that kind of common-sense journalism, electric consumers would need to read the pick-up piece by The Maine Wire.

The Wire pointed out that the state's proponents of pie-in-the-sky, expensive, sexy-sounding fantasies such as solar and wind have failed to explore - and actually blocked - pursuing available and cheaper options.

"While the state is increasingly vulnerable to storm damage to its distribution network, too little is being done to amp up generation capacity," The Wire reports. "Less than a third of the electricity Mainers use is generated in state. To make matters worse, initiatives to grow realistic self-sufficiency when it comes to electricity keep getting blocked."

Rep. Reagan Paul, a Republican state legislator, summed it up for The Wire.

The solar-and-wind crowd is “rejecting proven sources like nuclear, restricting natural gas, and even capping clean hydro — all while forcing costly mandates that leave Mainers paying more for less reliable energy,” Paul said.

So, we have two statewide news outlets pretending to be the best while failing to practice basic Journalism 101.

If a college newspaper run by freshmen misses some of the rudiments of journalism it can be excused as sophomoric lackings.

But if, as is done by both the Maine Monitor and Portland Press Herald, a company is claiming to produce ground-breaking journalism yet can't put together a basic primer, the words missed billing come to mind.

Memo to the Maine Monitor and Portland Press Herald: you're both doing a great job - if the prize you covet is Worst Maine Journalism 2025.

Ted Cohen is a Maine Wire contributor and former Portland Press Herald staffer.