Letters

Letters to the Portland editor: April 24,2009

What was once a top-quality, prestigious paper, has surely come down.

By PORTLAND PHOENIX LETTERS | April 22, 2009

HOPE FOR EX-NEWSPAPER TYPES
Having worked at Guy Gannett for years, I have sadly watched the papers drop in size, content, quality. The Saturday and Monday papers are pitiful. One wonders when we'll see the announcement like the Rocky Mountain News [which shut down February 27]. (See "Fold or Float," by Jeff Inglis, April 3.)

What was once a top-quality, prestigious paper, has sure come down. After Jean Gannett Hawley died, Maddy Corson tried to keep things going, but the times had turned. Ads dried up as other media pulled money away. Top writers read the handwriting on the wall and left for greener pastures.

I ran the Gannett Book Division, and published 85 Maine-themed books in 11 years. As general manager and editor-in-chief, I saw the signs. I went back to authoring for national publishers and am working on two more books now, my 61st and 62nd, for 2010 publication.

At 70, I found a "new career" giving illustrated PowerPoint presentations on cruise ships. My wife and I now do four or more cruises to various parts of the world each year. I give three "talks" each week and we sail the Baltic, Caribbean, British Isles, Bermuda, etc. There is some fun in the "Golden Years" (i.e., 70 to 75) and booking ahead for several more years.

Plus, as we cruise the Baltic, we pick up good interviews for my upcoming Viking adventures book.

Why retire? Life offers lots of fun, adventure, and challenge if one is willing to go after them.

Allan Swenson
Kennebunk

Related: PPH almost sold. Now what?, Good riddance, Press releases: Confusion and upset, More

PPH almost sold. Now what?
The long-floundering Portland Press Herald is about to have a new owner. At least, all signs suggest that the money necessary to seal the deal will come through by the end of the year.
Good riddance
Kennebunk activist Jamilla El-Shafei is at it again.
Press releases: Confusion and upset
The big Maine media news is that Central Maine Morning Sentinel executive editor Eric Conrad fired reporter Joel Elliott on January 26. (Disclosure: Elliott is a friend and a fellow member of the Maine Pro chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists.)
Countdown
With last week's news that Portland Press Herald managing editor Bob Crider has been summoned back to the state of Washington to run a Blethen-owned paper there.
Sitting pretty
Richard Connor has cleverly cornered the market on the Portland Press Herald and its sister papers, and is now in what can only be called the catbird seat.
Naming names
Any effort at survival by the Portland Press Herald should take advantage of the ample brainpower and ability already on staff
Death knell
Last week was a bittersweet week for the people who work at the Portland Press Herald and its sister publications. It is hard to fault them for the steps they took to try to preserve some semblance of the present, but we cannot avoid the fact that they have sounded the death knell both for the newspapers that employ them and the unions that represent them.
Down in the flood
A few years ago, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (motto: Cornsistently Rong Abowt Everyting) informed me I was buying a house in a flood zone. FEMA had a map that showed where the waters of the semi-mighty Carrabassett River had surged over its banks a decade or so earlier and inundated my property.
Talking points
Rich Connor's reforms have brought a much-needed sharpened focus to the Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram and its sister papers. Certain changes, though, are raising eyebrows not just for what they are, but because of how Connor is doing them.
Road to riches
The Maine Turnpike Authority wants to pay between $34 million and $56 million to build a new toll plaza in York. Don't let that huge price tag fool you.
Crossing the line
When an increasingly conservative newspaper company fires an already publicly conservative employee for apparently offending a liberal interest group, it leaves some people scratching their heads.
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