Owners of a family owned daily newspaper, the Lewiston Sun Journal, and 16 other publications in Maine have announced the sale of their company to MaineToday Media, the parent company of the Portland Press Herald. There are no expected layoffs and both newsrooms will continue to operate separately.
Steve Costello, vice president of the Sun Media Group, says it was a tough decision to let go. The Sun Journal has been part of his family’s business for four generations, since the late 1800s. But Costello says, ultimately, his brothers and sisters felt it was the right thing to do for the future competitiveness of the organization.
“We’ve spent a number of years growing from one newspaper in Lewiston to 17 different publications, and we’ve kind of built scale as best as we can, but it really needs to scale up even further to offer some of the digital things that are necessary moving forward, and I think that’s what the new ownership will allow,” he says.
Over the past few years Sun Media has partnered with Reade Brower, the owner of MaineToday Media, on various projects ranging from printing and transportation to digital services. And Costello says it became clear that the two companies share common values, such as a commitment to community journalism and to their staffs.
Terms of the deal are not being disclosed. When it becomes final Aug. 1, Costello says none of Sun Media’s 225 employees are expected lose their jobs. But he and his family members will be stepping down.
“I have three other members, siblings that work with me, a sister and two brothers and we have a sister who does not work in the company but her husband actually works here. Two of the family members are staying on a little bit longer in the transition and then the rest of us will be moving on,” he says.
Brower, who purchased MaineToday Media in 2015, could not immediately be reached for comment. But he told the Sun Journal that readers should not expect to see a lot of changes.
“I don’t believe in prosperity through cutting,” Brower told the paper. “We think that we’re taking over a fine product, we’re not looking to dismantle it.”
MaineToday Media CEO Lisa DeSisto, who will take over as CEO of the Sun Journal, the Forecaster and the other weekly publications, says there’s a reason for that.
“Part of the value of the company are the brands, right? Because of the relationships that the readers have with the individual brands of our newspapers across MaineToday Media and the Sun Media Group, so we would be foolish to tamper with any of that,” she says.
The newsrooms will continue to work separately, and DeSisto says she expects they’ll continue a healthy competition between the Sun Journal, the Portland Press Herald and its sister paper, the Kennebec Journal.
“But I do think that there will be ways for us to collaborate. So, we’re going to be competitive cousins. That’s the way I look at it,” she says.
Brower’s purchase of the Sun Media Group continues his unusual pattern of expansion in the newspaper business at a time when other news operations are shrinking. Last year he and a partner purchased two papers in Vermont. He also owns Courier Publications in Rockland and Alliance Press in Brunswick.
This story was originally published July 17, 2017 at 4:38 p.m. ET.
