New England Legacy Press Members Hold Convention To Bemoan The Death Of Their Lazy Journalism
By Ted Cohen
March 14, 2026
Funny how the very newspapers that are failing are the same ones that don’t cover news.
The annual convention of the New England Newspaper & Press Association featured a speaker who said that “for the first time in American history, trust in journalism is now lower than Congress, which until recently held the lowest level of trust among the people.”
That gem of recycled wisdom came from Rufus Friday, executive director of the Center For Integrity In News Reporting.
For using that tired old boring line comparing failed institutions to Congress ought to be grounds for arrest.
“Integrity In News Reporting”
Apparently if you’re going to hold a “newspaper” convention you invite a keynote speaker whose audience represents the worst in journalism.
The best evidence of the embarrassing product that Friday and his ilk are putting out is the raw numbers.
Exhibit No. 1: The Maine Wire is now showing 150,000 followers on Facebook, compared to 93,000 for Maine’s largest daily paper.
It’s actually even worse than meets the eye, if that’s even possible.
Over just the past few weeks alone, The Maine Wire’s numbers have skyrocketed by thousands while the Portland Press Herald has stayed stuck in the mud at 93,000.
And Joe Friday is getting paid to tell legacy editors what they know but won’t admit, behaving just like drug addicts and alcoholics.
Yup, Joe, you’re spot on – your clients are dead in the water.
For one reason.
They absolutely suck at what they do.
News consumers aren’t stupid – they want real news, such as stuff about government corruption and not thumb-sucking features about the Freeport Chocolate Festival. (Sorry Press Herald.)
Maine Wire showing 150K followers on Facebook compared to 93K for Maine’s largest daily paper
by Thinklike A. Mountain
5 hours ago
New England Legacy Press Members Hold Convention To Bemoan The Death Of Their Lazy Journalism
By Ted Cohen
March 14, 2026
Funny how the very newspapers that are failing are the same ones that don’t cover news.
The annual convention of the New England Newspaper & Press Association featured a speaker who said that “for the first time in American history, trust in journalism is now lower than Congress, which until recently held the lowest level of trust among the people.”
That gem of recycled wisdom came from Rufus Friday, executive director of the Center For Integrity In News Reporting.
For using that tired old boring line comparing failed institutions to Congress ought to be grounds for arrest.
“Integrity In News Reporting”
Apparently if you’re going to hold a “newspaper” convention you invite a keynote speaker whose audience represents the worst in journalism.
The best evidence of the embarrassing product that Friday and his ilk are putting out is the raw numbers.
Exhibit No. 1: The Maine Wire is now showing 150,000 followers on Facebook, compared to 93,000 for Maine’s largest daily paper.
It’s actually even worse than meets the eye, if that’s even possible.
Over just the past few weeks alone, The Maine Wire’s numbers have skyrocketed by thousands while the Portland Press Herald has stayed stuck in the mud at 93,000.
And Joe Friday is getting paid to tell legacy editors what they know but won’t admit, behaving just like drug addicts and alcoholics.
Yup, Joe, you’re spot on – your clients are dead in the water.
For one reason.
They absolutely suck at what they do.
News consumers aren’t stupid – they want real news, such as stuff about government corruption and not thumb-sucking features about the Freeport Chocolate Festival. (Sorry Press Herald.)
The rest can be read at the following weblink:
https://www.themainewire.com/2026/03/new-england-legacy-press-members-hold-convention-to-bemoan-the-death-of-their-lazy-journalism/