In my own travels, I’ve found the surest way to feel like a native is to pick up the local paper and give it a nice, leisurely read over a morning cup of coffee at the local cafe. Here in Portland, you won’t have any problem finding great media resources. In fact, your biggest challenge might be to decide which newspaper, television news show, or radio station to spend your time on.
Recent population growth in the city and its suburbs and an increasingly diverse readership make Greater Portland a prime target for media entrepreneurs looking to find their own lucrative niche. And for the first time in her history, Portland’s media outlets, which had for most of the 20th century been locally owned, are now largely owned by out-of-state companies. Despite the growing influence of national and regional media companies, some of Portland’s media outlets have bucked the national trend and continue to be owned and operated by locals. The greatest example of local ownership is in Portland’s suburban weekly newspapers, whose number has mushroomed in the past two years from one weekly per suburb to three or four in some areas. And all of Portland’s weeklies, from the Portland Phoenix (a funky alternative weekly owned by the Boston Phoenix, in Massachusetts) to the suburban Portland Forecaster or the Current Weekly, compete in some way with the mother of local print media—the Portland Press Herald.
Our local daily, the Portland Press Herald, remains the top provider of statewide news despite its 1998 sale to the Washington-based Seattle Times Company. Since the Press Herald was founded by Guy Gannett in 1921, the paper has undergone numerous editorial and cosmetic changes, from offering an evening edition to publishing a biweekly for retirees. Today, it is the daily print resource for southern Maine news.
A healthy mix of locally owned weekly newspapers also serves the city and its suburbs, including the Current Weekly (covering Scarborough, South Portland, Cape Elizabeth, Westbrook, Gorham, Windham, Standish and the Lakes Region) and the Forecaster (three separate editions serving Portland and the suburbs, including Falmouth, South Portland, and Cape Elizabeth).
On television, you can get your daily news fix on one of three local stations: WCSH Channel 6 (offering the longest-running and most popular local broadcast), WGME Channel 13, and WMTW Channel 8. These stations offer several broadcasts throughout the day of breaking news and human-interest stories covering southern Maine, the state, and beyond.
The top-rated radio stations in the city are owned by three companies: Saga Communications of Detroit, Michigan; Citadel Communication of Las Vegas, Nevada; and Harron Capital of Pennsylvania. Recently, Nassau Broadcasting of New Jersey joined the fray, purchasing frequencies 104.7 FM, 106.7 FM, and 107.5 FM.
Portland is also home to an award-winning community radio powerhouse—WMPG. Broadcast from a white house on the University of Southern Maine campus in Portland, WMPG is sponsored by listener donations, local businesses, and the student body of the University of Southern Maine. More than 100 volunteers vie for slots in the 24-hour broadcasting schedule. You can listen to anything from a debate on local and national policy to music as varied as zydeco, Harlem Renaissance jazz, and Eastern European techno broadcast by a Polish deejay speaking entirely in his native tongue. Tune in for information on WMPG’s frequent free parties, which are often worth a visit.
Needless to say, here in Portland, news about life in our community and beyond is not hard to come by. The toughest part is figuring out which publication or broadcast to spend time on. This chapter lists the major media outlets and tells you where to find them. You’ll feel like a native in no time.