On August 18, 2016

MaineToday to take the helm at Rutland Herald, Times Argus

By Adam Federman, VTDigger.org
The family-owned Rutland Herald has entered into an agreement to sell the Herald and its sister paper the Times Argus, according to a story posted on the Herald’s website late Wednesday night, Aug. 10. The story ran in Thursday’s print edition.
The story, written by the paper’s Editor-in-Chief Rob Mitchell, said the paper would be sold to MaineToday Media, a company owned by Reade Brower and to printing and marketing executive Chip Harris, a co-founder and former majority stockholder and president of Upper Valley Press Inc. in North Haverhill, N.H.
The terms of the agreement, including whether or not the deal included the paper’s office building in downtown Rutland, were not disclosed.
“The Mitchells said they could not release any further information as the papers went to press Wednesday night, but said more details would be released when available,” Mitchell wrote.
The agreement to sell the paper came as a surprise to newsroom staff who had been told at a meeting on Monday that the paper was not for sale. According to two employees, after the company-wide meeting Monday morning in which the paper’s financial situation was addressed, Mitchell met with a smaller group of newsroom staff. He was asked directly if the paper was for sale or if it was in receivership. According to the employees, Mitchell said the paper was not for sale nor was it in receivership. But in an email to VTDigger, Mitchell wrote that that was “not an accurate depiction of what I said.”
Mitchell posted the story at 10:10 p.m. Wednesday. Just after midnight he emailed staff at the
Herald telling them that the paper had been sold.
In the article, the Herald’s president John Mitchell said Brower had the “entrepreneurial spirit and record that is crucial, and the community focus and commitment to journalism that has been at the core of our mission for decades. The simple truth is that, as a family, we felt that if we were unable to continue that mission, we needed to find someone who could.”
MaineToday publishes the Portland Press Herald and Maine Sunday Telegram, the Kennebec Journal in Augusta, the Morning Sentinel in Waterville and the Coastal Journal in Bath, as well as several online news sites.
The Mitchell family has owned the Herald for more than 60 years and the Times Argus since 1964. The company has about 80 full- and part-time employees.

 

By Polly Lynn
“Mitchells agree to sell Herald” was the top headline in last Thursday’s edition of the Rutland Herald, Aug. 11.

Do you want to submit feedback to the editor?

Send Us An Email!

Related Posts

Killington receives positive snow control for Audi FIS Ski World Cup race Nov. 30-Dec. 1

November 21, 2024
KILLINGTON—Killington Resort received a positive snow control announcement from FIS (International Ski and Snowboard Federation), the governing body of the Audi FIS Ski World Cup. With this announcement, Killington Resort can assure international race teams and ski racing fans traveling to central Vermont for Thanksgiving weekend that both the giant slalom and slalom races will…

Killington community donated winter wears at Mission Farm coat drive

November 20, 2024
BROC Community Action was the beneficiary of the Mission Farm Veteran’s Day coat drive event in Killington. BROC received a significant donation of new and lightly used winter coats from the coat drive. These coats are essential to keeping area friends and neighbors warm during the cold winter months. If anyone is looking to contribute,…

One dead, two arrested in Rutland shooting

November 20, 2024
By Alan J. Keays / VTDigger Two Massachusetts men pleaded not guilty Monday afternoon, Nov. 18, to charges in the killing of a Rutland man. The prosecutor said the Friday night shooting was drug-related, and the two suspects may have been targeting someone else. Dylin Wainscott, 28, of Westfield, Massachusetts, faces charges of first-degree murder,…

Mountain Top Resort’s cross-country ski routes caught up in legal dispute

November 20, 2024
By Greta Solsaa/VTDigger Generations of cross-country skiers have flocked to Chittenden’s Mountain Top Resort to spend wintry days gliding along bucolic, snow-capped paths nestled in the shadow of Killington. As the popular cross-country skiing destination celebrates its 60th year in business, Mountain Top finds itself locked in a legal battle with its neighbors, John and…