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Updated: March 5, 2025

Press Herald parent company to restructure operations, eliminate 49 jobs

A building has signage on the facade and a curving sidewalk. FILE PHOTO / ALEXIS WELLS The Press Herald is among the properties belonging to the nonprofit Maine Trust.
By Laurie Schreiber

The Maine Trust for Local News, the nonprofit publisher of the Press Herald and other newspapers, said this week it will restructure operations, eliminating jobs and ceasing some print editions. 

A total of 49 positions — 36 full-time and 13 part-time — involved in print production, circulation and advertising were eliminated, according to a news release. No reporting positions were cut.

The restructuring is necessary to be financially sustainable and accessible, the nonprofit said. 

Stefanie Manning, hired as the trust’s managing director late last year, said the trust will invest in digital journalism while maintaining printed news products.

A person poses for a headshot.
File Photo / Courtesy Maine Trust for Local News
Stefanie Manning

“We all live, work and learn online, but Maine’s newspapers haven’t kept pace with Maine’s people,” she said. 

Print cutbacks

Beginning in April, print editions of the Sun Journal, Kennebec Journal and Morning Sentinel will shift from six days to five days a week, delivered via the U.S. Postal Service Tuesday through Friday. The editions will be expanded with added business coverage, statewide news, games and opinion coverage.

Digital editions will be available six days a week.

Print editions of the Advertiser Democrat, Bethel Citizen, Franklin Journal, Livermore Falls Advertiser and Rumford Falls Times will switch from weekly to  twice-monthly beginning later this month, joining the Rangeley Highlander as a twice-a-month publications. 

Print editions of the Times Record will be published once a week, on Fridays.

Digital ad growth

Print editions that were freely distributed, including those of the American Journal, Biddeford Courier, Forecasters, Kennebunk Post, Lake Regions Weekly, Register Gazette, Scarborough Leader and South Portland Sentry, will be replaced by weekly digital newsletters and e-editions after the week of March 24.

Manning said the changes were an outcome of reader and advertiser feedback.

“Printed news products are an essential and ongoing part of the work we do, but every year the market for them in Maine grows smaller,” she said in the news release. “At the same time, the Maine Trust’s digital subscriptions rose last year by 11%, and digital advertising grew by 23.”

The trust said it expects the hire more reporters and editors this year and to add new beats, reporting positions and digital news products.

“Our digital expansion creates a stronger foundation for the Maine Trust,” said Carolyn Fox, who became the trust’s executive editor in late 2024.

Plans call for expanding coverage areas, adding more local voices, increasing “accountability” reporting and having a more locally focused opinion section. Recently, Fox announced the formation of a “quick strike team” to focus on short-term investigations and enterprise reporting.

Additional plans include adding website features aiming to make finding local news easier, adding an iOS/Android app and increasing the events business, including themed speaker series, live debates, high school sports celebrations and live versions of popular journalism features. 

The trust is owned and operated by the National Trust for Local News, a nonprofit that purchased the newspapers in the fall of 2023. 

The Portland Press Herald is Maine's largest daily newspaper, with a paid circulation of 38,000 in 2023.

The National Trust for Local News, founded in 2021, acquired the portfolio from Masthead Media.

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