The nonprofit Maine Trust for Local News, which owns 22 daily and weekly newspapers including the Portland Press Herald, is laying off 49 employees and dramatically reducing its print editions in an attempt to cut costs on print production and focus more on digital.
No reporters will be laid off, as the job cuts — including 36 full- and 13 part-time employees — are focused on print production, circulation, and advertising. The Maine Trust had 363 employees, meaning the layoffs represent roughly 13.5 percent of its workforce.
Three of its daily papers — the Lewiston Sun Journal, Kennebec Journal, and Morning Sentinel in Waterville — will no longer publish on Saturdays and will be delivered via mail, as opposed to carriers, but will also feature additional business coverage and statewide news, games, and opinion journalism. And the Times Record in Brunswick, which was previously published in print two times a week, will begin printing weekly the week of March 17.
Meanwhile, The American Journal, Biddeford Courier, Forecasters, Kennebunk Post, Lake Regions Weekly, Register Gazette, Scarborough Leader, and the South Portland Sentry — all free weeklies — will stop printing entirely and exist solely online.
“Printed news products are an essential and ongoing part of the work we do, but every year the market for them in Maine grows smaller,” managing director Stefanie Manning said in a statement. “At the same time, the Maine Trust’s digital subscriptions rose last year by 11 percent, and digital advertising grew by 23.”
Five of the laid-off employees were part of the union that represents workers at the Kennebec Journal and two were part of the News Guild of Maine, which represents staff at the Press Herald and Morning Sentinel, union leaders said. Both said it was a “painful day” for the organization.
“We’re not opposed to digital growth or reaching audiences in new places,” said Megan Gray, president of the News Guild of Maine and an arts and culture reporter at the Press Herald. “But that doesn’t mean today isn’t painful.”
The cuts come less than three months after Manning told employees that the organization lost more than $500,000 in 2024 and that while digital subscriptions were up, it wasn’t enough to offset declines in revenue from print advertising. She said at the time that the organization, which also includes the Portland Press Herald and the Lewiston Sun Journal, couldn’t rule out layoffs or the elimination of print papers.
At least eight Maine executives including its former CEO, executive editors of the Press Herald and Sun Journal, and chief operating officer have departed in the past year. The National Trust for Local News, of which the Maine Trust is a subsidiary, is also searching for a new chief executive after its cofounder Elizabeth Hansen Shapiro stepped down as CEO in January.
The National Trust for Local News acquired the papers in 2023 for $15 million from Reade Brower, a Maine businessman, who merged the remaining papers he owned in the state to form The Midcoast Villager last year. A nonprofit formed in 2021, the National Trust has raised roughly $38 million to date to acquire and make investments in community newspapers in Colorado, Maine, and Georgia.
Staff at the trust’s Maine papers rejoiced when their new owner — which vowed to protect jobs and its journalism — bought them. But the trust has faced the same challenges that media outlets everywhere are confronting, underscoring that all types of owners face difficulties in building sustainable news organizations.
Although the trust is cutting staff, it expects to add reporters and editors this year with new beats, reporting positions, and new digital products, the organization said in a statement.
“To sustain and grow impactful journalism in Maine, we have to meet our readers where they are,” executive editor Carolyn Fox said in a statement. “Our digital expansion creates a stronger foundation for the Maine Trust, and we’re excited to build on that in partnership with the communities we serve.”
Aidan Ryan can be reached at aidan.ryan@globe.com. Follow him @aidanfitzryan.