3 distinguished journalists will join MPA Hall of Fame
Courtesy / Maine Press Association
The Maine Press Association will add to its Hall of Fame, from left, Christopher Cousins, Stephen Fay and Marian McCue.
The Maine Press Association will induct three distinguished journalists into its Hall of Fame during an annual conference in October.
Joining the hall, the MPA said in a news release: Christopher Cousins, a Statehouse reporter for the Bangor Daily News who died unexpectedly last year; Stephen Fay, who recently retired after 45-year journalism career; and Marian McCue, longtime publisher of the Forecaster newspaper.
Christopher Cousins
Fresh out of college, Christopher Cousins went to work for the Advertiser Democrat, a weekly newspaper that served the town of South Paris, where he grew up. By holding elected leaders accountable and ensuring that school and municipal officials abide by public meeting laws, he made it a better, more open place, the MPA said.
In 2005, the Nieman Foundation awarded him a fellowship for community journalism. Later, as a general assignment reporter for the Times Record and then the BDN, Cousins explained arcane education and corrections policies. When he moved to cover the Legislature in 2013, he gave as much voice to those affected by politics as he did to government officials and paid political operatives, according to the MPA.
Cousins died unexpectedly Aug. 15, 2018, at the age of 42.
Stephen Fay
Stephen Fay started out as a news reporter in 1974. He became an editor in 1976, working in Massachusetts, Connecticut and Vermont before settling at the Ellsworth American in 1996.
Fay retired May 31 after 23 years as the managing editor of the American. Respected by his colleagues and the community, Fay worked closely with reporters to ensure stories were well-sourced, organized, and written in a way the average reader could understand, according to the MPA.
Dozens of reporters and interns benefited from his mentorship over the years, the association noted in the release. His work, and that produced by his newsroom, have won numerous state, regional and national awards over the years.
Marian McCue
In 1990, Marian McCue purchased a small biweekly tabloid and eventually turned it into the Forecaster, a community paper covering a dozen southern Maine communities with four weekly editions. MPA described her as a "dyed-in-the-wool muckraker with a nose for scoops, coupled with a devotion to truth, balance and fairness."
In 2003, McCue sold the paper, but stayed on as editor until 2006, launching the Forecaster’s Portland and Mid-Coast editions. Since then, she has contributed to many Maine newspapers on a freelance basis and has written columns on the Statehouse for the Forecaster, which is now part of the Masthead Maine media group.
The MPA Hall of Fame, established in 1998, honors newspaper people with Maine connections who have made outstanding contributions to the profession. The hall now includes over 70 inductees.
MPA’s Fall Conference will be held Oct. 19 at the DoubleTree by Hilton in South Portland.
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