Sunrise Coast so-long: A Downeast newspaper will cease publication in November
PHOTo / Tim Cox / Bangor Daily News
Fred and Nancy Hastings look over proofs as they work of the Sept. 9 edition of The Downeast Coastal Press. They will retire and cease publication with the Nov. 4 issue.
One of the key things about the Downeast Coastal Press, a weekly newspaper founded in Cutler 26 years ago, is it always operated in the black.
Nancy and Fred Hastings, the couple who founded and operates the Coastal Press, surprised readers this month by announcing that they plan to retire and shut down the publication, which covers coastal Washington County. With a press run of 3,000, the weekly covers the stretch from Lubec to Steuben.
“We have a wonderful staff, wonderful freelancers, wonderful crew, wonderful advertisers,” says Nancy Hastings, “but when push comes to shove, we can't do everything ourselves. It's like any mom-and-pop: You fill in. We've always taken a small salary, and we always did what had to be done. It had to be profitable: We had to pay the mortgage.”
That meant many years “tethered,” as one of their friends put it, to the job. Although these have been much-loved tethers, the Hastings recently decided it's time to retire and pursue other endeavors.
They've had a few calls since they announced in the Sept. 2 issue that they will cease publication in early November. But Nancy Hastings says they plan to keep the business entity and stay open to future opportunities. And anyway, if someone wants to publish a newspaper these days, it's just as economical to start your own, she adds.
Fred Hastings is 68 years old and Nancy is 59.
The Hastings arrived at the idea of starting the small, rural publication after pursuing careers at IBM in New York City. Fred hails from Augusta, and the state had great appeal for the couple.
“So we packed up our apartment and drove up in our Pinto,” Nancy says. They spent the summer on the mid-coast, near Damariscotta, and looked for work. Fred got a job teaching at the University of Maine at Machias.
“Fred knew Maine like the back of his hand, but he didn't know Washington County as well,” she says. “It was the old Maine, the real Maine. So he took the job.” A year later, Nancy began working at Washington Academy in East Machias. They spent five years at their respective positions.
“During those years, we got to know the area, and saw there was a need, especially in the western county, for a more regional approach to journalism,” she says. “All of a sudden, issues were coming to the fore. It used to be that what one town did, it didn't matter what the other towns were doing. But all of a sudden, all of the towns were experiencing the same kinds of pressure.”
The Hastings had been thinking about starting a business. Desktop publishing had become available. With Fred's love of journalism, Nancy's photography skills and the computer experience both had, the idea of starting a paper with a regional approach, rather than one centered on a single town, seemed right.
“One winter night, sitting on the floor of the living room, we agreed to do it,” Nancy says. “Fred came up with the name.”
The first issue of the Downeast Coastal Press appeared July 26, 1988, and was 20 pages. Today the paper averages 28 to 32 pages, down from a pre-recession peak of 44.
“Fred always said, in the beginning, it's cheaper to start a newspaper than a hot dog stand,” Nancy says. There's no costly investment in a downtown storefront, capital equipment, staffing and other expensive requirements common to business start-ups.
Instead, the Hastings purchased a Macintosh SE/30 — the little boxy computer with a screen of perhaps 8-by-8 inches — and a printer, and set up office in an upstairs bedroom.
“We worked all hours, did everything, and had about three hours off a week —Tuesday night, when we were done delivering the paper,” she says. “Desktop publishing allowed us to do this.”
A few years later, with the birth of their son, the couple moved operations to a classroom in a next-door church. Several years after that, they fixed up an old sheep shed they had in the backyard for the permanent office. Today, they have four to five employees and a stable of 15 to 20 freelancers. As people who jumped onto the desktop publishing bandwagon early on, it seemed natural to try online publishing to complement their print edition. But that didn't catch on with many of their readers.
“We love the idea, love the technology,” she says. “We had an online version for a while, but we didn't have a lot of people who loved it.”
The last issue will come out on Nov. 4. The Hastings announced the paper's closing a couple of months ahead of time in order to give advertisers, subscribers who typically renew during the holiday season and their staff a chance to transition.
In a story in The Ellsworth American, which has printed the Coastal Press since the beginning, the American's owner and publisher, Alan Baker, said it “has been an outstanding provider of community news in coastal Washington County.”
“We consider [the Hastings] valued members of the American family,” he added.
Other publications covering Washington County include The Calais Advertiser and The Machias Valley News Observer, both founded in the 19th century, and The Quoddy Tides.
What will the couple do next?
“No plans,” says Nancy Hastings, who explains their lives have been impacted by the weekly deadline. “This will allow us to roam more freely.”
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