MAINE ENVIRONMENTAL NEWS • September 20, 2023
The news media landscape in Maine is changing. The Maine Trust for Local News is the state’s largest network of independent news and media outlets. It recently bought up the Portland Press Herald, Sun Journal in Lewiston, Kennebec Journal in Augusta, Morning Sentinel in Waterville, and Times Record in Brunswick, plus 17 weekly news papers in southern and western Maine. The Maine Monitor, a project of The Maine Center for Public Interest Reporting, “delivers independent, citizen-supported, nonpartisan journalism that informs Mainers about the issues impacting our state and inspires them to take action through investigative and in-depth stories.” The Maine Morning Star, “an independent, nonprofit and nonpartisan news site covering state policy and politics,” went live online today. The Beacon, "a website and podcast created by the Maine People’s Alliance to highlight the experiences of everyday Mainers,” delivers left-leaning news and opinion. The Maine Wire, a project of the Maine Policy Institute “dedicated to holding power people and institutions accountable,” delivers right-leaning news and opinion. The Portland Phoenix, an independent weekly news and arts publication covering Greater Portland, took wing in 1999, crashed in 2019, rose from the ashes later that year, but finally folded in July 2023. The for-profit Bangor Daily News, which is now the only independent, family-owned daily paper in Maine, takes donations but still relies on traditional revenue streams. In addition to the legacy newspaper founded in 1889, it encompasses Fiddlehead Focus, The County, St. John Valley Times, Aroostook Republican, Houlton Pioneer Times and Star Herald (in Aroostook County), Penobscot Times (in Penobscot County), Piscataquis Observer in (Piscataquis County), and Bangor Metro magazine. Maine Environmental News, a project of RESTORE: The North Woods, has provided "the most comprehensive source of conservation news and events in Maine and beyond” since 2009.