Portland: The new radio ratings from Arbitron for the Portland market were released on Jan. 25, but weren’t made public, apparently to make it more difficult for non-subscribing stations (primarily those owned by Saga Communications) to get all the juicy details. Nevertheless, broadcasters who do well aren’t shy about sharing the information, so here it is.

Whatever happened to … Pat McGowan? The unsuccessful Democratic gubernatorial candidate dropped off the mainstream media’s radar after he finished last in the primary election in June. But McGowan, who left his job as state conservation commissioner to run for governor, has been busy.

The numbers are coming: Arbitron is set to release the radio ratings for all four Maine markets it surveys on Tuesday, Jan. 25.

Family ties: One of the main duties of journalists is fact checking. As several old-school editors have told me over the years, “If your mother says she loves you, check it out.”

Good advice. Too bad so few in the news media follow it.

I’m no fan of Dennis Bailey’s recent antics, in which the Portland-based public-relations guru and political consultant helped operate an anonymous Web site attacking a gubernatorial candidate, and then lied to the media about his involvement.

His credibility with me is shot.

And yet …

Things have been quiet at the Pine Tree Politics Web site, lately. Too quiet.

There hasn’t been a fresh posting on PTP since mid-December, leading to online speculation that the site is dead.

It’s not, but it isn’t looking too healthy, either.

Doesn’t pass inspection: It should have been an easy headline to write. A local seafood-processing company had been shut down for a variety of food-safety violations by a consent decree filed in federal court.

The Lewiston Sun Journal didn’t have any problem coming up with something appropriate. It topped the piece with “Seafood plants closed” and followed that with a sub-headline that read, “Contaminated lobster meat recalled 4 times.”

Day of not reckoning: When the news broke late last year that the Portland Press Herald had made a donation of advertising space worth $47,000 to the Portland Regional Chamber to promote a charter-change referendum creating an elected mayor in Portland, one of the media outlets that didn’t bother to cover the story was the Portland Press Herald.

The Associated Press is reporting a complaint has been filed with the state ethics commission against the Portland Press Herald for contributing some $47,000 worth of free advertising to a political campaign last year.

Past imperfect: Guy Gannett’s idea of an unbiased newspaper was one that covered stories from an overtly Republican point of view. Gannett’s view on the free market was that it worked best if he held a monopoly on news outlets. Gannett welcomed a diversity of opinions, so long as they didn’t extend beyond his own and those of immediate family members who agreed with him.