Smith, who died earlier this year at age 72, received first place as the state's best opinion columnist among daily newspapers for his "Maine Stream" op-eds. The Kennebec Journal and Morning Sentinel sports staff, meanwhile, was honored with 1st place for best sports section among daily newspapers. The papers also had first-place entries for former news reporter Greg Levinsky and a posthumous first place for opinion columnist George Smith.īonifant, in winning first place for sports columnist, was recognized for the top honor among the state's daily newspapers for his contributions to the "Sidelines" columns appearing in the Kennebec Journal and Morning Sentinel sports sections. Seamans and Rich Abrahamson news reporter Taylor Abbott sports reporter Drew Bonifant and copydesk editor Ben Pinette. The Maine Press Association held its annual awards ceremony virtually Saturday night, opting for the second year in a row for an online presentation instead of an in-person gathering because of the coronavirus pandemic.Īmong staff at the central Maine newspapers, first-place winners in individual categories among the state's daily newspapers were photographers Michael G. In all, the Central Maine newspapers had more than 30 awards across a variety of categories for Maine's newspapers as part of the 2020 Better Newspaper Contest for reporters, photographers, editors, designers, production, advertising and circulation. 14-The Kennebec Journal and Morning Sentinel staff received a number of top honors Saturday as part of the annual Maine Press Association ceremony held virtually. In Maine, nonprofit startups like the Maine Monitor, the Harpswell Anchor, and Amjambo Africa, a free publication about the African diaspora, have sprung up to help counteract the state’s growing news desert.Nov. Over 135 such outlets have launched since 2017, according to the Institute for Nonprofit News, approximately double the number in the previous five years. “We feel this is a good faith effort to preserve local ownership of the paper, and we’re really interested to learn more,” said Megan Gray, an arts reporter at the Press Herald and president of the union.Īs corporate owners continue to hollow out and shutter local newspapers nationwide, the nonprofit newsroom model is growing in popularity. The union issued a measured response to the potential of a nonprofit buyer, noting in a tweeted statement they “have many questions about what their proposal would mean for our coworkers.” Nearly 200 workers at the Press Herald and the Morning Sentinel are represented by The News Guild of Maine, which Nemitz considers “very much allies” with the foundation. Since then, he has brought a bevy of other smaller publications across the state under the Masthead Maine banner, cultivating a one-man conglomorate that the Columbia Journalism Review called an “unparalleled consolidation of local news.” “I’m supportive of looking at all of the options.”īrower has owned the Press Herald, the Kennebec Journal in Augusta, and the Morning Sentinel in Waterville since 2015, when he purchased the parent company from financier S. “I think it’s like a wait and see,” he said. Late last month, Brower announced that he was looking to offload his media holdings or bring on another investor, casting uncertainty on the future of the bulk of Maine’s local news ecosystem. “But we, at this point, have a seat at the table.” “It’s too soon at this point for us to tell who else is out there, and what kind of competition this may be,” said Nemitz, who is joined on the board of the foundation by veteran media leaders Emily Barr and Bill Burke. As of Monday afternoon, the group had raised just over $21,000, and plans to court funds from foundations and individuals with deeper pockets. To this end, the Maine Journalism Foundation has embarked on a $15 million fund-raising drive to acquire Masthead Maine and “nurture and invest in the papers” moving forward, said Nemitz. “Journalism and Maine are both sufficiently woven into my DNA that I couldn’t simply sit back and watch terrible things happen to both.” ![]() “Seeing what’s happened in other markets, we fully anticipated that some of the same predatory behavior we’ve seen befall other newspapers might come our way,” said Nemitz, who last year retired as a columnist from the Portland Press Herald, one of Masthead Maine’s flagship publications.
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