 | |
 The April 4, 2007, front page of thePortland Press Herald | |
| Type | Daily newspaper |
|---|---|
| Format | Broadsheet |
| Owner | Maine Trust for Local News |
| Founders |
|
| Publisher | Stefanie Manning (Managing Director) |
| Editor | Carolyn Fox (Executive Editor) |
| Founded | 1862; 163 years ago (1862) (as thePortland Daily Press) |
| Headquarters | 295 Gannett Drive South Portland, Maine, U.S. |
| Country | United States |
| ISSN | 2689-5900 (print) 2689-5919 (web) |
| OCLC number | 9341113 |
| Website | pressherald |
ThePortland Press Herald is adaily newspaper based inSouth Portland, Maine, with a statewide readership. ThePress Herald mainly serves southernMaine and is focused onthe greater metropolitan area ofPortland. It is the most distributed newspaper in the state of Maine.
Founded in 1862, its roots extend to Maine's earliest newspapers, theFalmouth Gazette & Weekly Advertiser, started in 1785, and theEastern Argus, first published in Portland in 1803.[1] For most of the 20th century, it was the cornerstone ofGuy Gannett Communications, before being sold toThe Seattle Times Company in 1998.
Since 2023, it has been a part of theMaine Trust for Local News, a nonprofit group run by the National Trust for Local News that includes four other daily newspapers and 17 weekly newspapers.[2]
ThePortland Daily Press was founded in June 1862 by J. T. Gilman, Joseph B. Hall, and Newell A. Foster as a newRepublican paper.[3] Its first issue, published on June 23, 1862, announced strong support forAbraham Lincoln and condemnedslavery as "the foulest blot upon our national character."[1] Its offices, along with the offices of all the newspapers in the city, were destroyed on July 4, 1866, in Portland'sGreat Fire. On the morning of July 6, thePortland Daily Press published a double-sided handbill about the fire.[4]
The paper quickly gained the largest circulation in Portland, and was one of five daily newspapers in the city to survive to the 20th century.[1] In 1904, the paper was bought by a syndicate of Maine Republicans, includingHenry B. Cleaves and gubernatorial candidateJoseph Homan Manley, who the paper had previously opposed.[5]
In 1921, thePortland Daily Press was merged with thePortland Herald to form thePortland Press Herald in a sale of thePress from then U.S. SenatorFrederick Hale toGuy P. Gannett,[6][7] who had bought theHerald earlier the same year.[1] The first edition of thePortland Press Herald was published on November 21, 1921.[1] ThePress Herald's circulation skyrocketed in the first year of Gannett's ownership, when the paper sold for two cents; circulation went from a little over 18,000 to nearly 29,000.[1] Under Gannett's ownership, the traditionally pro-Republican newspaper adopted a balanced editorial approach; during the1922 gubernatorial campaign, the newspaper published Democratic candidateWilliam Robinson Pattangall's criticism of the Republican incumbent, GovernorPercival Baxter. In a letter to readers, Gannett wrote, "The American people think for themselves. They want and should be given the news and all the news fully and uncolored by any personal or political consideration."[1]
In the 1920s, Gannett's media empire in Maine grew: he purchased thePortland Evening Express and Daily Advertiser in 1925 (whose name he shortened toEvening Express) and by 1929 also boughtAugusta'sKennebec Journal andWaterville'sCentral Maine Morning Sentinel.[1]
In 1923, Gannett built anew building to house all of the paper's operations on 390Congress Street across fromPortland City Hall.
In 1928 thePortland Press Herald merged with thePortland Sunday Telegram to form thePortland Sunday Telegram and Sunday Press Herald.[8]
In 1998, the family trust that ran what was by now Guy Gannett Communications decided to break up its media interests. Ultimately, it decided to sell thePress Herald toThe Seattle Times Company. Gannett officials cited shared values; the Times Company was also a family-owned business, and its owners, the Blethen family, had roots in Maine.[9] ThePress Herald and its sister publications were reorganized as Blethen Maine Newspapers, an independent division of The Seattle Times Company.[10]
A paid advertisement in the newspaper's February 3, 2007, "religion and values" section, placed by the First Baptist Church ofSouth Portland, listed the sermon as "The Only Way to Destroy the Jewish Race"; this caused outrage in Greater Portland's Jewish community,[11] and led to an apology by the minister of that church.[12] Two weeks later, an ad forPeoplesChoice Credit Union ran, depicting a "Fee Bandit" character that usedstock photography of aHasidic Jew to represent the character rather than theOld West banker intended for the visual representation.[13] This incident prompted investigations by theAnti-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, as well as the credit union, later apologized for the advertisements; the newspaper said it would scrutinize ad content better in the future.[12][14][15]
On March 17, 2008, thePress 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 Blethens announced that they were putting thePress Herald and its other Maine newspaper properties up for sale.[16] ThePortland Press Herald also had three rounds of job cuts in 2008; in the third round of cuts, the newspapers' owner eliminated 36 jobs and closed the news bureaus inAugusta,Biddeford,Bath, andWashington, D.C., in response to declining newspaper ad revenue.[17]
After more than a year on the market, on June 15, 2009, the papers were sold toMaineToday Media, Inc., headed by Richard L. Connor, publisher ofTimes Leader inWilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, with financing fromHM Capital Partners andCitizens Bank.[18] MaineToday also owned a variety of Maine press properties, including theKennebec Journal,Morning Sentinel, andBath'sCoastal Journal, as well as mainetoday.com.[19]
Although MaineToday originally announced a plan to move the paper's offices out of downtown into the South Portland printing plant,[20] it was later reported that the company's headquarters would move to One City Center in downtown Portland.[21] As part of the sale, Portland Newspaper Guild members took a 10% pay cut in exchange for 15% ownership in MaineToday Media. More than 30 non-union jobs were eliminated.[22]
Connor's short tenure was characterized by controversy and a rapid decline in the newspaper's financial condition. On September 11, 2010, thePress Herald reported on local Ramadan celebrations with a front-page story. Later that day, Connor insisted on apologizing to readers for his editors' decision to run that story.[23] "Many saw Saturday's front-page story and photo regarding the local observance of the end of Ramadan as offensive, particularly on the day, September 11, when our nation and the world were paying tribute to those who died in the 9/11 terrorist attacks nine years ago," wrote Connor.
Connor's apology attracted nationwide scorn. In Time Magazine, critic James Poniewozik called Connor's behavior "craven" and "depressing for the state of journalism."[24] In an appearance on NPR's On The Media, Connor admitted that "some of the people who complained about the lack of 9/11 coverage were really couching anti-Muslim and anti-Islamic attitudes," but refused to retract his apology, and he eventually hung up on host Bob Garfield before the segment was over.[25]
Connor demonstrated a similar lack of ability in managing the business side of the newspaper. In 2011, he eliminated 61 positions, many of which were in the newsroom, and in November of that year, a paper supplier sued the newspaper for $124,000 in unpaid bills.[26] Connor finally left the newspaper at the end of 2011 under strong pressure from the board of directors and a restructuring firm that had taken over day-to-day management.[27]
Maine Values LLC, a company owned by wealthy businessman and philanthropistS. Donald Sussman, made a $3–4 million investment in MaineToday Media in February 2012, acquiring a 5% equity stake in the company and a seat on its board.[19] The next month, Maine Values boosted its ownership stake in MaineToday to 75%.[28] Sussman, who lived inNorth Haven, Maine, therefore held a majority stake in the newspapers.[1]
In 2013, Travelers Casualty & Surety Co. paid MaineToday Media over $500,000 under the company's employee theft insurance policy to recoup money that former publisher Richard P. Connor had allegedly stolen from the company for unauthorized personal use. Forensic audits by MaineToday and its insurers had revealed that Connor had given himself unauthorized salary increases and used company funds to pay for personal expenses, including credit card bills, dental work, an SUV, vacation home rentals, and numerous other personal expenses.[29]
In 2015,MaineToday Media was sold toReade Brower, owner of a number of midcoast Maine newspapers and a printing operation inBrunswick, Maine.[30] Over a decade, Brower has consolidated six of Maine's seven daily newspapers, as well as 21 weekly newspapers, under his ownership.[31]
In July 2023, it was announced that a national nonprofit, theNational Trust for Local News, would buy thePress Herald from Brower. ThePress Herald, along with 4 daily and 17 weekly Maine papers owned by Brower, is part of the new Maine Trust for Local News, a subsidiary of the National Trust for Local News. In 2024, the Maine Trust for Local News implemented a centralized organizational structure across its properties. Carolyn Fox serves as the trust's first executive editor, overseeing journalists across all titles, while Scott Monroe was named the first managing editor, overseeing newsroom production, digital operations, and community editors of weekly newspapers.[32] As of 2025, the Maine Trust operates with 363 employees across Maine.[33]
The company is the consolidated former media companiesMaineToday Media, Alliance Media Group and Sun Media Group.[34]
Organizational details of the trust are not public. The new ownership led to a number of leadership resignations. Managing editor Nita Lelyveld left.[33] Executive editor Steve Greenlee left the paper one year later to become aBoston University professor. Greenlee told thePoynter Institute that his resignation came at "a time of great stress."[35][36] In October 2024, Greenlee was replaced by Carolyn Fox, the former managing editor of theTampa Bay Times.[37] In late 2024, publisher Lisa DiSisto stepped down after 12 years. Advertising executive Stefanie Manning, who co-owns a Portland diner and the Harvest on the Harbor food festival, become managing director.[38] Manning told staff the Maine Trust for Local News lost more than $500,000 in 2024.[33]
In early 2025, National Trust for Local New co-founder and CEOElizabeth Hansen Shapiro, resigned, after her salary rise was criticized.[39]Lewiston Sun Journal publisher Jody Jalbert, who worked for the paper for 36 years, resigned in early 2025. In January 2025, syndicated and freelance sports, culture and opinion writers for thePortland Press Herald were laid off.[40] In March 2025, the Maine Trust for Local News announced 49 layoffs in production, circulation and advertising.[41] In June 2025, the newspaper eliminated a managing editor position leaving it with only one managing editor.[42]
In September 2025, nearly 50 reporters, photographers, copy editors, designers, advertising representatives and business staff at theLewiston SunJournal,The Times Record in Brunswick, and weekly newspapers voted to join the News Guild of Maine over concerns about pay equity and job security. Prior to the vote, the union represented more than 100 workers at thePortland Press Herald,Lewiston Sun Journal,Kennebec Journal andMorning Sentinel.[43]
Notable alumni of the paper includeThomas Haskell, known as Cap'n Haskell, who covered marine news for theEastern Argus newspaper from 1857 to 1920 until it merged with thePortland Press and stayed with the paper until three months prior to his death in 1928;[44]May Craig, who was Washington correspondent from 1935 to 1965;[45] sportswriterSteve Buckley, who later joined theBoston Herald;[46] sportswriterJerry Crasnick, who later worked forESPN and is now senior advisor to theMajor League Baseball Players Association;[47]Marjorie Standish, who wrote a food column for theMaine Sunday Telegram for 25 years;[48] formerNew York Times music criticAllan Kozinn, who was the classical music critic from 2015 to 2020;[49][50] investigative journalist and book authorColin Woodard, who won a George Polk Award in 2012, was named Maine Journalist of the Year in 2015, and was a finalist for a Pulitzer Prize in 2016;[51][52][53] food columnistAvery Yale Kamila, ranked by polling firmYouGov as one of The Most Popular Columnists in America;[54] and sports broadcaster andNESN anchorTom Caron.[55]
In 2006, the paper received aMissouri Lifestyle Journalism Award for General Excellence, Class III.[56]
In 2012,Maine Sunday Telegram reporterColin Woodard received aGeorge Polk Award in the "Education Reporting" category "for detailing how online education companies steered development of Maine’s digital education policies."[57]
In 2016,Colin Woodard of thePortland Press Herald was a finalist for the2016 Pulitzer Prize inExplanatory Reporting for his "compelling account ofdramatic ecological changes occurring in the warming ocean region fromNova Scotia toCape Cod."[58]
In 2016, thePortland Press Herald reporters Whit Richardson and Steve Mistler received aGerald Loeb Award for their 2015 series "Payday at the Mill" in the "Local" category.[59] The series detailed a lack of accountability in the Maine New Markets Capital Investment program, a state tax-incentive program.[60][61]
The newspaper's predecessor, thePortland Daily Press, was formed as a pro-Republican newspaper in an era when most American newspapers had strong political allegiances.[1] In the 1920s, underGuy P. Gannett's leadership, the newspaper adopted a more balanced editorial approach, and today the news and opinion sections of the paper are separate.[1]
In 1929 and 1930, thePortland Press Herald and thePortland Evening News "waged an editorial war" about theKellogg–Briand Pact and the1930 London Conference on naval arms limitations: theEvening News took a pacifist view, arguing in favor of the Pact; thePress Herald took the opposite view, calling the Pact "a delusion and a dream."[62] This dispute illustrated a political chasm within theMaine Republican Party at the time between "Old Guard regulars" and pacifists.[62]
Later in the 20th century, thePress Herald was regarded as having a more liberal and pro-Democratic editorial stance than theBangor Daily News, which once leaned toward conservatism and Republicans.[63] Over its history, however, thePress Herald "has covered and endorsed candidates of various political persuasions, including independentsAngus King, who was elected governor in1994 and1998, andEliot Cutler, who came in second in the2010 gubernatorial campaign."[1] ThePress Herald endorsed conservative Republican candidates (Dean Scontras andJason Levesque) in both of Maine's congressional districts in 2010.[64] They were defeated by the Democratic incumbents,Chellie Pingree andMike Michaud.[65] In the2016 presidential election, the paper's editorial board endorsed Democratic candidateHillary Clinton.[66] The paper endorsed an override of GovernorPaul LePage's veto of L.D. 1504, a pro-solar energy bill.[67]
Content from thePortland Press Herald appears on its website,pressherald.com. The newspaper operates a metered paywall system where readers may access a limited number of articles before a subscription is required. Certain content including obituaries, classifieds, public notices, puzzles, podcasts, and events remains freely accessible.[68] Digital subscribers receive access to the website, mobile apps, and digital replica ePaper editions, with household subscription sharing available for up to four email addresses.[68] According to 2024 data, the newspaper maintains a digital audience averaging 1.5 million users monthly.[69]
ThePortland Press Herald acquired thedomain name Portland.com in 1996 for free, using it as the Web address for the papers; Under Richard Connor, Portland.com was sold to a marketing firm and became a visitor's guide for the city ofPortland, Oregon, in 2004.[70]
In 1923, Guy Gannett built thePress Herald Building to house all of the paper's operations at 390 Congress Street across fromPortland City Hall. An addition was added to the north side of the building facing Congress Street in 1948.[71] In 2010, under Richard Connor's ownership, the newspaper sold the building and printing plant (attached by a tunnel running under Congress Street) and moved its news staff to the nearbyOne City Center office building.[72]
In 2015, the 110-room Press Hotel opened in the newspaper's former headquarters.[73] It was developed by Jim Brady and sold to a San Francisco-based real estate private equity firm in 2021.[74]
In 1988, the newspaper opened a $40 million print plant at 295 Gannet Drive in South Portland. In 2016, J.B. Brown & Co. purchased the print plant and its surrounding 21 acres in an office park for a reported $4.9 million. J.B. Brown & Co. then leased the building back to the newspaper.[75] The newspaper's newsroom, printing press and distribution functions were moved to South Portland, where they remain to this day.[72]