Slow News Day in Portland?

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It's not news that there's no love lost between the local press and 64-year-old Paul LePage, Maine's 74th Governor.

LePage, the Republican former Mayor of Waterville who became governor in January 2011, once told students that buying a newspaper was akin to paying someone to lie to you.  It's also a poorly kept secret that the loose-lipped LePage often sparks controversy with shoot-from-the-hip comments, whether referring to the IRS as the "new Gestapo," or commenting that the local NAACP chapter offended by his non-participation in Martin Luther King Day events could "kiss his butt."

Still, no further proof is needed that we're in the throes of the Dog Days of Summer than the kerfuffle fueled by the Portland Press Herald over a recent lame LePage witticism. Sitting in an F-35 Lightning II fighter jet simulator at Berwick defense contractor Pratt & Whitney facility last week, LePage was captured in video footage responding to a question about what he wanted to do, saying: "I want to find the Portland Press Herald building and blow it up." Not wanting to let his bon mot go unnoticed, LePage, when asked later at the event by a WMTW-TV reporter if he had any targets in mind when he was in the simulator, replied: "The Press Herald and the Bangor Daily News." Guess you had to be there.

The Press Herald  wrote a story about the remarks, eliciting criticism about the comments from political opponents of the Governor. The daily even went so far as to ask the FBI in Portland about the statements, only to be told--probably in a monotone--that the FBI responds to threats that are specific and credible, which the law enforcement mavens concluded LePage's statements were not.

The Press Herald has more important fish to fry, such as figuring out how to stay afloat in a newspaper-unfriendly economic environment (see "TUOL" post 10/14/11), and  Gov. LePage, who holds the state record for vetoing bills and is a GOP small government champion, might consider adding a joke writer to his staff.

When the tireless staff of "TUOL" wants to be stunned, shocked, or wowed by news events, it bypasses the Press Herald and heads directly to The Huffington Post for photos of actresses not wearing make-up or sideboob photos of Miley Cyrus.

Maine High Court Orders Jury Selection Open to Press

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The Maine Supreme Court this week voted 6-1 to open to the press and public voir dire proceedings in the high-profile Kennebunk Zumba prostitution case, the Portland Press Herald, which asked the High Court to unlock the jury selection proceedings, reported.

In the10-page decision in In re Maine Today Media, Inc., State of Maine v. Mark Strong (Case No. 2013-ME-12) written by Chief Justice Leigh Saufley, the High Court reversed the decision by presiding York County Superior Court Justice Nancy Mills to close the jury selection proceedings to the media and public. Justice Mills had expressed concern about the prospective jurors' privacy rights and possible intimidation if they were grilled in open court about the case.

The Maine Supreme Court decision, in which Justice Donald Alexander was the lone dissenter, not only ordered the lower court to open the remainder of the jury selection process to the public, but also to release transcripts of the closed-door inquiry of prospective jurors that began Tuesday, the Press Herald reported. The United States Supreme Court, in cases such as Press-Enterprise Co. v. Superior Court of California, Riverside County, 464 U.S. 501 (1984), has found a First Amendment right to attend voir dire proceedings at criminal trials.

The juror questionnaire in the highly publicized case elicited opinions from the would-be fact-finders on whether prostitution should be legalized, whether as jurors they would be able to watch videotapes of sexual liaisons and what exposure, if any, to pretrial publicity they had encountered. The 57-year-old Strong, prosecutors allege, was the business partner of Alexis Wright, who owned the Kennebunk Zumba exercise studio out of which authorities charge the defendants ran a prostitution operation. The 30-year-old Wright is scheduled to go on trial in May, facing 106 criminal counts, according to the Press Herald.

Chief Justice Saufley wrote: "We vacate the court’s order barring the public from the entirety of the

voir dire process. The matter is remanded for the trial court to conduct the
remaining voir dire in a presumptively public manner, exercising its considerable
discretion to prevent the dissemination of sensitive juror information. The public’s

access to the jury selection that has already occurred can be addressed, again at the

court’s discretion, by the release of appropriately redacted transcripts."

The trial court today dismissed 46 of the 59 charges Strong faces.

Ruptured Maine: Press Herald Slashes Newsroom Staff

Image via WikipediaStaggered by the poor economy and declining advertising revenues, Maine Today Media-owned Portland Press Herald will layoff 38 full-time and part-time employees within two weeks, mostly newsroom denizens, according to a story in the Kennebec Journal.

In addition to the blood-letting on the editorial side, an additional 23 full-time and part-time staffers have opted for a voluntary buyout, according to the Journal article. Pink-slipped employees will receive two weeks' severance pay for each year of service.

Were Maine Daily's Free Ads to Chamber on Charter Vote a Conflict of Interest?

Image via WikipediaThe Sun Media Group-owned Maine weekly, The Forecaster (www.theforecaster.net), earns kudos from www.stinkyjournalism.org, the nonprofit Art Science Research Laboratory media ethics Web site, for its reporting on the questionable conduct of The Portland Press Herald concerning the recent change in the city charter that enables voters directly, rather than City Councilors, to select the port city's Mayor.

Voters last month passed the City Charter amendment, which the Press Herald supported in two editorials. All well and good, but The Forecaster accuses the Press Herald of a conflict of interest and assails the daily for not disclosing that it gave $47,000 worth of free advertising to the Portland Regional Chamber of Commerce, a key backer of the amendment, leading up to the vote.

The Forecaster, whose Portland readership exceeds 19,500, claims the Chamber received one free ad daily, including a full-page ad, in Press Herald ads running from Oct 26 to the Nov. 2 election day. The Press Herald's donation of advertising purportedly was discovered by The Forecaster in the Elect Our Mayor/Yes on 1 post-election campaign finance report.

The Press Herald defended its coverage of the charter vote to The Forecaster, but has yet to respond to Stinkyjournalism.org.  Reportorial objectivity can be compromised when either the wall between the newsroom and editorial or the newsroom and advertising is replaced by a fence with an unlocked gate.

Maine Dailies: 'No Anonymous Posts Heah'

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Maine Today Media, Inc. dailies The Portland Press Herald, Kennebec Journal and Waterville Morning Standard have shuttered the comments section of their online editions.


Publisher Richard Connor attributed the move to numerous "hurtful and vulgar" anonymous postings following articles that appeared on PressHerald.com, the online edition of the daily newspaper. He left open the possibility of reinstating the comments section provided a way can be found effectively to hold posters accountable for their remarks.