MediaWatch: Can the Media Avoid the Tentacles of Government?

Can the media avoid the tentacles of government?
Written by mediadog
Thu, 11/12/2009 - 9:20pm

What would happen if government bureaucrats gained control of Maine's daily newspapers?

A cynic might suggest this has already happened considering the fervent support that many of the state's papers have been offering liberal candidates and causes lately. But be assured, for the moment, all Maine papers remain in the private sector.

So why raise the question of state control? Look no farther than neighboring New Hampshire where the state has recently agreed to guarantee 75 percent of a $250,000 bank loan to help the Sample News Group purchase the Claremont Eagle Times.

The Eagle Times, which had a circulation of 8,000, had been published in the Connecticut River community for more than 60 years before it closed last July, putting 66 full-time staffers out of work.

Three months went by before Sample worked out the unusual financing arrangement with a local bank and the state of New Hampshire that allowed it to purchase the newspaper. Sample is the Pennsylvania-based outfit that owns a portfolio of small dailies including two in Maine, the Brunswick Times Record and the Biddeford Journal.

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