60.8° 
Follow That Reporter!
Submitted by Al Diamon on Fri, 08/01/2008 - 10:27pm.
Liberty took liberties: Here’s a disturbing footnote on one of the people involved in Maine Media Investments, the group trying to buy the Blethen Maine Newspapers. Back in the early 1990s, developer Michael Liberty was struggling financially and fighting numerous lawsuits. The Portland Press Herald, one of the Blethen papers Liberty could soon own, published several hard-hitting pieces on his difficulties, sometimes revealing information Liberty didn’t want made public. So, he hired a detective to follow the reporter doing most of the stories, in hopes he’d discover his secret sources. The scheme didn’t work, but it does call into question Liberty’s commitment to keeping his hands off the newsroom if he becomes one of the Press Herald’s owners. It would be interesting to get a frank assessment of Liberty’s tactics from the reporter who was shadowed, but somehow, I don’t think it’s going to happen. That’s because that once-relentless journalist is none other than Dennis Bailey, now the spokesman for Maine Media and Liberty.
Liberty takes roles: Just to clarify Liberty’s occupation: It’s true he’s been a real-estate developer for many years, but his real passion is Hollywood. According to the Web site IMDb.com
Liberty has produced several films, including “The Hit,” “Open House” and “Vampire Survivor.” I’d probably be a little more impressed if I’d ever heard of any of those. He also got a couple of acting jobs, although one of them was in a flick he produced, so I don’t think that proves he has talent.
Press Herald takes liberties: In the Press Herald’s “Go” section on July 31, there’s a capsule review of the latest Batman movie. (Sorry, Michael Liberty does not have a part.)
The editor who wrote the headline for the piece must have been gloomy over the impending layoffs at the paper, because he listed the name of the film as “The Dark Night.” Knot hardly.
On the sports page, staff writer Rachel Lenzi has a piece on bobblehead dolls (hey, it was a slow day for news), in which she claims a few bobbles of former Portland Sea Dogs are being auctioned on eBay, including one of Nomar Garciaparra. The Dogs may have issued a Nomar doll, but he never was a member of the team. Back when Garciaparra was coming up, the Red Sox Double-A affiliate was the Trenton Thunder.
The Press Herald finally made mention of Republican U.S. Sen. Susan Collins’ connection to recently indicted Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens.
But it came in an July 31 Associated Press national piece that made passing mention of Collins and four other GOP senators returning donations from a Stevens-affiliated political action committee.
The local aspects of this story remain uncovered in print.
Press Herald staffers take liberty: According to the Web site Pressing The Herald, the Newspaper Guild’s effort to mitigate the impact of mid-August layoffs at the Portland paper has succeeded. Union members agreed to take enough unpaid leave this year to reduce the number of jobs that will be lost by 25 percent, according to pseudonymous blogger T. Cushing Munjoy. That amounts to six positions that won’t have to be cut. For now.
Bangor Daily takes on staff: I’ve been critical of the Bangor Daily News for failing to replace reporters who leave, thereby depleting the news product without the publicity that layoffs attract. But I may have been wrong. A reliable source informs me that at least two recent vacancies on the reporting staff are being filled.
Sun Journal takes off for outer space: Can anyone explain the significance of the August 1 front-page piece in the Lewiston Sun Journal by Rebekah Metzler detailing the campaign travel expenses of U.S. Senate contenders Tom Allen and Susan Collins?
So, they both spent some cash on travel to fundraisers. It’s legal. It’s common. Who cares? There’s a lot that could be written about political donations in this campaign, but this article fails to touch on a single point of importance.
Brunelle takes off: Columnist (and former reporter) Jim Brunelle is packing up and moving to Washington state, after 40 years of covering and commentating on Maine’s political scene in a variety of media.
Brunelle published his final piece for the Kennebec Journal and Morning Sentinel on July 31. His contribution to the state’s institutional memory will be missed.
Al Diamon can be e-mailed at aldiamon@herniahill.net.
Liberty took liberties: Here’s a disturbing footnote on one of the people involved in Maine Media Investments, the group trying to buy the Blethen Maine Newspapers. Back in the early 1990s, developer Michael Liberty was struggling financially and fighting numerous lawsuits. The Portland Press Herald, one of the Blethen papers Liberty could soon own, published several hard-hitting pieces on his difficulties, sometimes revealing information Liberty didn’t want made public. So, he hired a detective to follow the reporter doing most of the stories, in hopes he’d discover his secret sources. The scheme didn’t work, but it does call into question Liberty’s commitment to keeping his hands off the newsroom if he becomes one of the Press Herald’s owners. It would be interesting to get a frank assessment of Liberty’s tactics from the reporter who was shadowed, but somehow, I don’t think it’s going to happen. That’s because that once-relentless journalist is none other than Dennis Bailey, now the spokesman for Maine Media and Liberty.
Liberty takes roles: Just to clarify Liberty’s occupation: It’s true he’s been a real-estate developer for many years, but his real passion is Hollywood. According to the Web site IMDb.com
Liberty has produced several films, including “The Hit,” “Open House” and “Vampire Survivor.” I’d probably be a little more impressed if I’d ever heard of any of those. He also got a couple of acting jobs, although one of them was in a flick he produced, so I don’t think that proves he has talent.
Press Herald takes liberties: In the Press Herald’s “Go” section on July 31, there’s a capsule review of the latest Batman movie. (Sorry, Michael Liberty does not have a part.)
The editor who wrote the headline for the piece must have been gloomy over the impending layoffs at the paper, because he listed the name of the film as “The Dark Night.” Knot hardly.
On the sports page, staff writer Rachel Lenzi has a piece on bobblehead dolls (hey, it was a slow day for news), in which she claims a few bobbles of former Portland Sea Dogs are being auctioned on eBay, including one of Nomar Garciaparra. The Dogs may have issued a Nomar doll, but he never was a member of the team. Back when Garciaparra was coming up, the Red Sox Double-A affiliate was the Trenton Thunder.
The Press Herald finally made mention of Republican U.S. Sen. Susan Collins’ connection to recently indicted Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens.
But it came in an July 31 Associated Press national piece that made passing mention of Collins and four other GOP senators returning donations from a Stevens-affiliated political action committee.
The local aspects of this story remain uncovered in print.
Press Herald staffers take liberty: According to the Web site Pressing The Herald, the Newspaper Guild’s effort to mitigate the impact of mid-August layoffs at the Portland paper has succeeded. Union members agreed to take enough unpaid leave this year to reduce the number of jobs that will be lost by 25 percent, according to pseudonymous blogger T. Cushing Munjoy. That amounts to six positions that won’t have to be cut. For now.
Bangor Daily takes on staff: I’ve been critical of the Bangor Daily News for failing to replace reporters who leave, thereby depleting the news product without the publicity that layoffs attract. But I may have been wrong. A reliable source informs me that at least two recent vacancies on the reporting staff are being filled.
Sun Journal takes off for outer space: Can anyone explain the significance of the August 1 front-page piece in the Lewiston Sun Journal by Rebekah Metzler detailing the campaign travel expenses of U.S. Senate contenders Tom Allen and Susan Collins?
So, they both spent some cash on travel to fundraisers. It’s legal. It’s common. Who cares? There’s a lot that could be written about political donations in this campaign, but this article fails to touch on a single point of importance.
Brunelle takes off: Columnist (and former reporter) Jim Brunelle is packing up and moving to Washington state, after 40 years of covering and commentating on Maine’s political scene in a variety of media.
Brunelle published his final piece for the Kennebec Journal and Morning Sentinel on July 31. His contribution to the state’s institutional memory will be missed.
Al Diamon can be e-mailed at aldiamon@herniahill.net.
