April 14, 2008
Newspaper union explores buyout
A newspaper union is exploring the possibility of an employee buyout of Blethen Maine Newspapers.
The Portland Newspaper Guild's announcement on Friday comes a few weeks after the Seattle Times Co., Blethen's parent company, said it would sell its Maine media outlets -- the Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram, the Morning Sentinel in Waterville, the Kennebec Journal in Augusta and MaineToday.com -- because of company-wide declining revenues. Blethen Maine Newspapers employs more than 600 people.
The guild is seeking "community-minded" investors and has set up a website, www.yourhometownpaper.org, to explain employee and local ownership. The site lists two newspapers in Nebraska and Michigan that have Employee Stock Ownership Plans, or ESOPs, as well as several employee-owned Maine businesses, including Cianbro in Pittsfield.
The Portland Newspaper Guild's announcement on Friday comes a few weeks after the Seattle Times Co., Blethen's parent company, said it would sell its Maine media outlets -- the Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram, the Morning Sentinel in Waterville, the Kennebec Journal in Augusta and MaineToday.com -- because of company-wide declining revenues. Blethen Maine Newspapers employs more than 600 people.
The guild is seeking "community-minded" investors and has set up a website, www.yourhometownpaper.org, to explain employee and local ownership. The site lists two newspapers in Nebraska and Michigan that have Employee Stock Ownership Plans, or ESOPs, as well as several employee-owned Maine businesses, including Cianbro in Pittsfield.
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