DownEast.com | Citizens’ Voice | Bangor Daily News
Richard Connor, CEO of MaineToday Media (Portland Press Herald, Maine Sunday Telegram, others) and Impressions Media (Wilkes-Barre, Pa., Times Leader and a number of weeklies) says he’s leaving because of the workload and in order to clear the deck for new leadership (read his Sunday goodbye column here).
But a story published last week by Al Diamon of DownEast.com suggests some kind of financial shenanigans: Questionable expenses allocated between the two companies, most notably a trip to Italy that reportedly was set up to reward advertisers.
Diamon reports:
Even though both the Maine and Pennsylvania papers were involved in the Italian trip, Connor charged most of the expenses to MTM. When board members in Maine learned of this, they began investigating the allocation of other expenses, discovering that the trip to Italy did not appear to be the first instance in which expenses were improperly placed on MaineToday’s books.
Dale Duncan — President of Maine Today Media — also resigned last week. The former publisher of the Indianapolis Star and the Wilkes-Barre Times Leader joined the company last year, reports the Bangor Daily News. He was promoted to President in July.
Most of the major players — including Dallas-based HM Capital Partners LLC, the equity firm behind both companies — have had no comment other than their official statements, report Borys Krawczeniuk and Erin Nissley of the Citizen’s Voice.
The Portland Press Herald and Maine Sunday Telegram recently laid off 38 employees and accepted buyouts from 23 more full- and part-timers. The newsroom took the biggest hit in that reduction.
Matt Wickenheiser of the competing Bangor Daily News reports:
According to a source familiar with the situation, Connor’s resignation comes amidst increasing disagreement between him and the company’s board of directors over the direction of MaineToday Media. The most recent issue of contention was Connor’s push to launch a new digital initiative for the company, MaineToday Digital, a marketing agency specializing in new media.
Connor says he’ll retain his personal investment in MaineToday. He’ll stick around through the end of the year to assist with a transition.
