In the tough Maine news industry, a weekly Portland paper is reborn
Courtesy / Portland Phoenix
Staff of the relaunched Portland Phoenix newspaper include, from left, Mo Mehlsak, Marian McCue, Suzanne Piecuch, Karen Wood and Janet Allen.
You might say the Portland Phoenix is rising from the ashes.
The free, weekly “alternative” newspaper ceased publication earlier this year, but will hit newsstands again on Nov. 13, according to a press release.
The paper will relaunch with a new editorial focus, a new editorial staff and new ownership. Marian McCue, owner and editor of the Forecaster newspaper from 1990 to 2006, and Karen Wood, the Forecaster’s longtime publisher, acquired the Phoenix from Mark Guerringue, McCue told Mainebiz.
The Forecaster is a general news publication with four weekly editions covering over a dozen communities in southern Maine, from Scarborough to Bath.
In a phone interview, McCue wouldn’t disclose terms of the deal, but said Guerringue retains a minority stake in the Phoenix and will provide some technical and administrative support for the short term.
Guerringue owns three newspapers in New Hampshire, and purchased the Phoenix in 2014 from Stephen Mindich, who launched it in 1999. Mindich also owned three other weekly newspapers in New England, including the Pulitzer Prize-winning Boston Phoenix, all of which have folded.
Guerringue suspended publication of the Portland Phoenix in February in response to declining ad sales. In its final year of operation, the Phoenix had been printed by Masthead Maine, publisher of the Portland Press Herald and the Forecaster.
In the Phoenix's new, independently owned form, McCue will serve as editor and Wood will oversee all sales and administrative operations as publisher. Mo Mehlsak, most recently executive editor of the Forecaster, American Journal and Lakes Region Weekly newspapers, has been hired as managing editor of the Phoenix.
The reborn publication will continue to be free, will maintain its previous tabloid format, and will initially run to 24 pages, according to McCue. Like the earlier Phoenix, the new one will cover much local arts and entertainment news. Al Diamon, a veteran political writer who contributed opinion pieces to both the Phoenix and the Forecaster, will again have a weekly column.
But the new newspaper is changing things up, too.
While the earlier Phoenix often took a progressive slant in its coverage, the publication will now have a decidedly “newsy” editorial approach, according to McCue.
“People want information and well-done opinion pieces, and they also want to do their own thinking,” she said.
Portland is rife with topics that call for good reporting, McCue said, mentioning the city’s building boom, the problem of homelessness, and the impact of the cruise ship industry as examples.
While there are no specific beats planned, the paper will focus on “the news that arises,” she added. Some topics of reporting may even extend beyond the city limits.
"Some of these issues are regional issues," McCue said.
The paper is actually headquartered outside Portland, at the Falmouth Shopping Center, where the ownership group, New Portland Publishing Co., has signed a five-year lease. Seacoast Printing, of Rollinsford, N.H., will handle production.
A staff of five has already been hired, and the paper plans to farm out some reporting to local freelancers. The Phoenix has received "substantial" interest from potential advertisers, according to McCue.
The relaunch comes as another Maine paper, the Journal Tribune, printed its last edition on Oct. 12. The daily publication, where Mehlsak once served as a reporter and editor, had covered Biddeford, Saco and Sanford news since 1884.
McCue isn't worried, however. While Maine journalism is highly competitive, there's still a place for a free news publication in the Portland market, she said.
"I think reports of the death of print journalism are exaggerated."
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Marian McCue is a solid media player. The rest are unknown to me...
This is wonderful news about news! Thank you, Marian and your able team, for adding clear and trusted voices to the local news. The Phoenix is in good hands and appropriately named to serve a city that emerged from the ashes - three times!.
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