There was good news this week as Reade Brower, owner of the Portland Press Herald and other newspapers around Maine, announced that he is selling the PPH and several of his other newspapers to the nonprofit, National Trust for Local News.

With newspapers around the country closing their doors for several years now, it is good to know that Maine’s cities and small communities will continue to get their news.

“This is the most independent route I think I could have taken that maintains both the independence of the press and continuity for staff and readers,” said Brower in a PPH interview. “I believe they want to continue to run this as a sustainable business, which I like, and I don’t believe they will try and drain resources, which I like.”

The Bangor Daily News reported that Brower will maintain ownership of six newspapers: The Ellsworth American, The Mount Desert Islander in Bar Harbor, The Courier-Gazette in Rockland, The Republican Journal in Belfast, The Camden Herald and The Free Press in Camden, while selling his five dailies and 17 weekly newspapers.

The Boothbay Register/Wiscasset Newspaper and Lincoln County News are not owned by Brower, but we are looking forward to seeing those other newspapers continuing to be printed and placed on the newsstands around the state.