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by Gina Hamilton
Coastal Journal staff
BATH — The parent company of the Coastal Journal, Midcoast Life and the Midcoast Health Journal, Blethen Maine Newspapers, is close to closing on the sale of its assets in the state, including the Portland Press Herald, Kennebec Journal in Augusta, and Morning Sentinel in Waterville, as well as the CJ and its affiliated publications. The closing could occur by next week, according to Richard Connor, whose new company, MaineToday Media Inc., is purchasing the properties.
Although no jobs will be lost at the CJ, employees have agreed to take a cut in pay and changes to benefits in exchange for an ownership stake in the new company.
Connor is editor and publisher of The Times Leader in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, and his organization owns several other weekly papers in that state.
Several non-union employees at the daily papers, including Jeanine Guttman, editor and vice president of the Portland Press Herald, John Christie, publisher of the Kennebec Journal, and Eric Conrad, executive editor of the Kennebec Journal and Morning Sentinel, will lose their jobs when the closing occurs. Also leaving will be Dan Dinsmore, publisher of MaineToday.com, which is the nominal parent organization for the CJ. A total of 22 non-union jobs will be lost.
More staff cuts may be expected after MaineToday Media takes over to bring costs in line with revenue declines that have affected the newspaper industry generally, and Blethen Maine Newspapers specifically. He has said that he wants to create a more responsive, community-oriented media company.
Currently, Blethen Maine employs about 500 people.
No immediate changes to the Coastal Journal or any of its affiliated publications are planned. “The staff at the Coastal Journal will continue to provide our readers with the kind of information that they desire, and our advertisers the level of customer service they have come to expect,” said Bruce Hardina, general manager of the Coastal Journal.
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