Reade Brower

Reade Brower
Born1956 or 1957 (age 67–68)
Spouse
Martha Brower
​
(m. 1985)​

Reade Francis Brower is a media owner known for owning a majority of the newspapers in Maine during his tenure as owner of MaineToday Media. His network of owned papers was described by The Maine Monitor as a "near-monopoly".[1]

Personal life

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Brower grew up in Westborough, Massachusetts, to his adopted parents Carmel and Richard. He attended the University of Massachusetts Amherst, and graduated in 1978 with a degree in marketing. As of 2018, he is married to Martha McSweeney Brower (née Martha McSweeney). They were married in 1985.[2]

Career

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Prior to owning newspapers, Brower was an entrepreneur who started several companies, including an auto catalog and direct-mail company that advertised to 600,000 Maine households each week.[3] In 1985, he founded The Free Press.[4] In 2015, Brower bought MaineToday Media from financier S. Donald Sussman.[5] He continued purchasing Maine newspapers;[a] in 2017, he was the owner of 24 papers in Maine, including four of the state's seven daily newspapers.[6] In 2018, he had acquired six of the seven daily papers in the state (the exclusion being the Bangor Daily News).[7]

On March 30, 2023, he announced he was looking to sell or take on investors to Masthead Maine, the successor to MaineToday.[8] On March 31, Bangor Daily News reported that he owned five dailies and 25 weeklies, and six specialty publications.[9] He was 66 at the time.[10] On July 10, 2023, Bangor Daily News reported that Brower had sold the five daily newspapers and 17 weeklies he owned to the National Trust for Local News, a non-profit.[11]

MaineStay Media

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He also owns 6 weeklies that were not included in the 2023 sale: The Ellsworth American (Ellsworth), The Mount Desert Islander (Bar Harbor), The Courier-Gazette (Rockland), The Republican Journal (Belfast), The Camden Herald (Camden), and The Free Press (Camden).[12][13] Those six papers had united under the company MaineStay Media in 2022.[14] Four of those newspaper (The Courier-Gazette, The Republican Journal, The Camden Herald and The Free Press) were combined in 2024 to form the Midcoast Villager.[4]

Notes

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  1. ^ See MaineToday Media § Brower for an outline of some acquisitions.

References

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  1. ^ McCarthy, Patricia (2018-05-28). "Constant Concern and a Glimmer of Hope". The Maine Monitor. Retrieved 2023-09-24.
  2. ^ McCarthy, Patricia (2018-06-06). "Owning It: Reade Brower has followed heart, instincts throughout his career". The Maine Monitor. Retrieved 2023-09-24.
  3. ^ Richardson, Whit (2015-05-04). "MaineToday buyer: Entrepreneur with a community focus". Portland Press Herald. Retrieved 2023-09-24.
  4. ^ a b Fleury Capetta, Kathleen (2024-08-07). "Publisher's Letter: Building a New Future for Local News in Midcoast Maine". The Free Press. Retrieved 2024-08-11.
  5. ^ Fishell, Darren (2015-04-28). "Press Herald papers purchased by midcoast businessman Reade Brower". Bangor Daily News. Retrieved 2023-09-24.
  6. ^ Carpenter, Murray (2017-11-27). "Meet the Media Mogul of Maine". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331; republished in the Rutland Herald as "The unassuming media mogul of Maine (and Vermont)".
  7. ^ "Owner Of Maine's Biggest Newspaper Buys More Publications". Maine Public. 2018-03-23. Retrieved 2023-09-24.
  8. ^ Craig, Steve (2023-04-24). "Press Herald owner considering sale of his newspapers to new nonprofit". Portland Press Herald. Retrieved 2023-09-24.
  9. ^ Valigra, Lori; Shepherd, Michael (March 31, 2023). "Press Herald owner considers selling his Maine newspaper empire". Maine Public. Contributions by Paul Koenig. Bangor Daily News.
  10. ^ "Masthead Maine exploring the sale of 30 newspapers". AP News. 2023-03-30. Retrieved 2023-09-24.
  11. ^ "Maine newspaper empire will sell to a national nonprofit". Bangor Daily News. July 10, 2023.
  12. ^ Monitor, The Maine (2023-07-10). "Nonprofit to buy Portland Press Herald and other Maine papers". The Maine Monitor. Retrieved 2023-09-24.
  13. ^ Burnham, Kevin (2023-07-19). "Keeping the mastheads". Boothbay Register. Retrieved 2023-09-30.
  14. ^ "Local news outlets join forces as MaineStay Media". The Courier-Gazette. 2022-01-06. Retrieved 2023-09-24.
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