Bangor Daily News

History

19th century

The Bangor Daily Newss first issue was June 18, 1889; the main stockholder in the publishing company was Bangor shipping and logging businessman Thomas J. Stewart. Upon Stewart's death in 1890, his sons took control of the paper, which was originally a tabloid with "some news, but also plenty of gossip, lurid stories and scandals." In 1895, J. Norman Towle purchased the newspaper. Ownership of the paper remained in the family, and Towle's great-grandson Richard J. Warren remains the publisher today.

20th century

The Bangor Daily News merged with the Bangor Whig & Courier in 1900, leaving two newspapers in the city: BDN and the Bangor Daily Commercial, which ceased publication in 1949. Towle's son-in-law Fred Jordan took control of the paper in 1929. Forty-six BDN staff members served in the U.S. forces during World War II, and the paper's managing editor John M. O'Connell was sent to Europe as a war correspondent. After Fred Jordan's death in 1947, his widow Lillis Towle Jordan became publisher. Richard K. Warren became publisher in 1955 and remained in that role until 1984, a time when the newspaper's circulation dramatically increased. It has only missed one day of delivery in its entire history. On New Year's Eve 1962, a massive blizzard dumped over three feet of snow on Bangor, with 20-foot snowdrifts that made it impossible for the delivery trucks to move.

The newspaper's peak came in the mid-1980s, when Bangor Daily News had 150 reporters and editors and 150 other employees. At the time, published seven regional editions of the newspaper throughout Maine, and in addition to its main office on Main Street in Bangor had news bureaus at Madawaska, Presque Isle, Houlton, Pittsfield, Calais, Machias, Rockland, Augusta and Ellsworth.

In 1982, a reporter for the Bangor Daily News, Beurmond Banville, who ran a one-person news bureau for the paper in Madawaska, Maine, on the U.S.-Canada border, wrote about a pretrial hearing in a murder case in New Brunswick, Canada. After publishing an account of the restricted proceeding in BDN, Banville was convicted in a Canadian court for violating a publication ban, and was fined $160; in 1983, the Court of Appeal of New Brunswick upheld the conviction, but gave Banville an absolute discharge, meaning that he does not have any Canadian criminal record. Banville and the newspaper considered the Canadian court's ruling to be a prior restraint on freedom of the press, but decided not to further appeal considering the cost.

Richard J. Warren succeeded his father as editor in 1984; five years later, the newspaper moved its printing plant from Bangor to a new printing plant in Hampden (which was closed in 2013 and sold in 2015).

The newspaper was an early adopter of a policy prohibiting tobacco advertising. As of 1993, the Bangor Daily News was one of fewer than twenty American newspapers that declined to accept ads for tobacco products.

21st century

The newspaper launched its Web presence in 1997 at bangornews.com, later moving to bangordailynews.com in the 2000s. From 1997 to 2001, BDN acted as an Internet service provider in addition to a newspaper, working with two local, small telecommunications companies to provide dial-up Internet access to a few thousand people in Maine.

BDN adopted an aggressive "digital-first" publishing strategy,

In 2008, the paper's editorial page director, Todd Benoit, was appointed BDNs director of new media; he later became BDNs president and chief operating officer.

In 2011 and 2012, BDN established the partnerships The Maine Campus, the independent student newspaper at the University of Maine, and The Free Press, the student newspaper at the University of Southern Maine, through the BDN media partners program. The program involves a content-sharing agreement as well as training and Web hosting services provided by BDN to the student newspapers.

In 2011, BDN hired an additional reporter to cover Greater Portland and reassigned another reporter to cover the southern mid-coast of Maine. Editor-in-chief Mike Dowd also named editorial-page editor Susan Young as "managing editor for investigative reporting and new initiatives" and appointed Tom Groening as editorial-page editor.

The Bangor Daily News and The Quoddy Tides sought records under the Maine Freedom of Access Act of closed-door tribal councils of the Passamaquoddy Tribe relating to a proposed $500 million liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal on tribal land at the Pleasant Point Reservation. A Maine court decided that the newspapers were not entitled to the records because the tribal officials' negotiations with the Oklahoma-based LNG developer were undertaken in the reservation's capacity as "a profit-making business rather than municipal governance" and were therefore not subjected to the Freedom of Access Act.

In 2018, Bangor Daily News became the state's only independently owned daily newspaper in the state, after MaineToday Media, owned by Reade Brower, acquired additional newspapers in Maine. MaineToday now owns seven of Maine's eight daily newspapers: the Portland Press Herald and Maine Sunday Telegram, the Times Record of Brunswick, the Journal Tribune of Biddeford, the Kennebec Journal in Augusta, the Morning Sentinel in Waterville, and the Coastal Journal in Bath.

As of 2020, about half of BDNs journalists were based in Bangor, with the other half spread across Maine.

In May 2022, the newsroom staff unionized with the Maine NewsGuild and won recognition from management.

Editorial stance

The Bangor Daily Newss editorial stance has traditionally leaned toward conservatism and the Republican Party in contrast to the Portland Press Herald, which was regarded as having a more liberal, pro-Democratic editorial stance. It historically endorsed Republican candidates for office, such as Barry Goldwater in the 1964 presidential election, but has also sometimes endorsed Democratic candidates. The endorsement was a major boost to Longley's candidacy.

BDNs editorial board endorsed Republican George W. Bush in the 2000 presidential election, but endorsed Democrat John Kerry over Bush in the 2004 presidential election. In 2008, BDN endorsed Democrat Barack Obama for president, Republican Susan Collins for Senate, and Democrats Mike Michaud and Chellie Pingree for Maine's congressional seats. The paper's editorial board endorsed Obama for reelection over Republican challenger Mitt Romney in the 2012 presidential election.

References

References

1. (June 18, 2019). "Tabloid origins, war correspondent and the only day no papers were delivered: A 130-year history of the Bangor Daily News". Bangor Daily News.
2. Bob Keyes. (March 23, 2018). "Press Herald owner Reade Brower will buy newspapers in Biddeford and Brunswick". The Portland Press Herald.
3. [https://www.colemuseum.org/ Cole Land Transportation Museum]
4. "The Bangor Daily News (Bangor, Maine) 1889-Current [Online Resource]". Library of Congress Publishing Office.
5. Jonathan Friendly, [https://www.nytimes.com/1982/03/04/us/maine-newspaper-tests-canadian-court-curb.html Maine Newspaper Tests Canadian Court Curb], ''New York Times'' (March 4, 1982).
6. [https://www.nytimes.com/1983/01/19/world/reporter-s-conviction-upheld.html Reporter's Conviction Upheld], Reuters (January 19, 1983).
7. The ruling appears in a textbook on Canadian [[media law]].Robert Martin & Stuart Adam, ''Sourcebook of Canadian Media Law'' (2d. ed: Carlton University Press, 1994), pp. 335-41.
8. William Glaberson, [https://www.nytimes.com/1993/07/05/business/the-media-business-seattle-times-places-a-ban-on-tobacco-advertisements.html Seattle Times Places a Ban on Tobacco Advertisements], ''New York Times'' (July 5, 1993).
9. Al Diamon. (June 17, 2011). "Media Mutt: Bangor Daily Dominates Online News".
10. [https://bangordailynews.com/2011/12/09/business/bdn-launches-partnership-with-the-maine-campus-newspaper/ BDN launches partnership with The Maine Campus newspaper], ''Bangor Daily News'' (December 9, 2011).
11. [http://usmfreepress.org/2012/04/09/the-free-press-teams-up-with-the-bangor-daily-news/ The Free Press teams up with the Bangor Daily News], ''Free Press'' (April 9, 2013).
12. Al Diamon. (August 9, 2011). "Media Mutt: The Bangor Daily News Beefs Up". Down East.
13. [https://www.editorandpublisher.com/news/maine-court-rejects-newspapers-bid-for-tribal-records/ Maine Court Rejects Newspapers' Bid for Tribal Records], ''Editor & Publisher'' (May 9, 2006).
14. The [[Maine Supreme Judicial Court]] unanimously affirmed the ruling in 2006. In 2013, ''Bangor Daily News'' reporters submitted a public records request to Maine's state government for public information that included the names and addresses of the holders of concealed-weapon permits. The request, made in furtherance of newsgathering, prompted a fierce uproar, and the newspaper dropped the request.[https://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/16/us/maine-uproar-over-request-for-gun-permit-data.html Maine: Uproar Over Request for Gun Permit Data], Reuters (February 15, 2013).
15. Although Brower's company does not own ''BDN'', it does provide printing services for ''BDN''.Casey Kelly, [https://www.cjr.org/united_states_project/reade-brower-maine.php The man behind Maine's unparalleled consolidation of local news], ''Columbia Journalism Review'' (September 6, 2018).
16. (April 19, 2020). "Staff Directory". Bangor Daily News.
17. (6 May 2022). "Bangor Daily News will voluntarily recognize newsroom employees' union".
18. Christian P. Potholm, ''This Splendid Game: Maine Campaigns and Elections, 1940-2002'' (Lexington Books: 2004), p. 9.
19. Richard J. Powell. (2004). "Running on Empty?: Political Discourse in Congressional Elections". [[Rowman & Littlefield]].
20. [https://www.nytimes.com/1964/10/25/archives/article-4-no-title.html United Press International] (October 25, 1964).
21. In the [[1974 Maine gubernatorial election]], the ''Bangor Daily News'' endorsed [[independent candidate]] [[James B. Longley]]: "The newspaper had always endorsed Republicans, so backing an independent was stunning."Douglas Rooks, ''Statesman: George Mitchell and the Art of the Possible'' (Down East Books, 2016), p. 119.
22. The paper endorsed conservative independent candidate Herman "Buddy" Frankland in the [[1978 Maine gubernatorial election. U.S. Senate]] candidate [[Susan Collins (politician)
23. Greg Mitchell, [https://www.editorandpublisher.com/news/daily-endorsement-tally-a-handful-of-pickups-for-each-but-a-bigger-handful-for-kerry/ Daily Endorsement Tally: A Handful of Pickups for Each, but a Bigger Handful for Kerry], ''Editor & Publisher'' (October 27, 2004).
24. [https://bangordailynews.com/2008/10/31/opinion/endorsements-2008/ Endorsements 2008 — Editorials], ''Bangor Daily News'' (October 31, 2008).
25. [https://bangordailynews.com/2012/10/26/opinion/editorials/obama-should-serve-four-more-years/ Obama should serve four more years], ''Bangor Daily News'' (October 26, 2012).