daily newspaper
A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background.
Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as politics, business, sport ...
published six mornings a week in
Waterville, Maine
Waterville is a city in Kennebec County, Maine, United States, on the west bank of the Kennebec River. The city is home to Colby College and Thomas College. As of the 2020 census the population was 15,828. Along with Augusta, Waterville is ...
. It is owned by
MaineToday Media
MaineToday Media is a privately owned publisher of daily and weekly newspapers in the U.S. state of Maine, based in the state's largest city, Portland. It includes the ''Portland Press Herald'' and ''Maine Sunday Telegram'', the state's larges ...
.
The newspaper covers cities and towns in parts of Franklin, Kennebec,
Penobscot
The Penobscot (Abenaki: ''Pαnawάhpskewi'') are an Indigenous people in North America from the Northeastern Woodlands region. They are organized as a federally recognized tribe in Maine and as a First Nations band government in the Atlantic ...
and
Somerset
( en, All The People of Somerset)
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, region = South West England
, established_date = Ancient
, established_by =
, preceded_by =
, origin =
, lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset
, lor ...
counties. The paper is printed at the ''
Portland Press Herald
The ''Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram'' is a morning daily newspaper with a website that serves southern Maine and is focused on the greater metropolitan area around Portland, Maine, in the United States.
Founded in 1862, its roots e ...
'' press in
South Portland, Maine
South Portland is a city in Cumberland County, Maine, United States, and is the fourth-largest city in the state, incorporated in 1898. At the 2020 census, the city population was 26,498. Known for its working waterfront, South Portland is si ...
.
History
Founded in 1904 by officials of the Waterville
Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to:
*Democratic Party (United States)
Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to:
Active parties Africa
*Botswana Democratic Party
*Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea
*Gabonese Democratic Party
*Demo ...
—Waterville mayor Cyrus Davis; future
U.S. Senator
The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States.
The composition and powe ...
Charles Fletcher Johnson; and future mayor L. Eugene Thayer, leavened by newspaper veteran Thomas F. Murphy—the ''Waterville Morning Sentinel'', within a year, grew from a three-desk operation to requiring its own building, on Silver Street.CentralMaine.com: About , accessed May 27, 2007.
In 1911, a financially ailing Davis sold the paper to bond holders; ten years later, it was bought by Guy Gannett, who was in the process of building a newspaper, radio and television empire in Maine. His holdings included the ''
Portland Press Herald
The ''Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram'' is a morning daily newspaper with a website that serves southern Maine and is focused on the greater metropolitan area around Portland, Maine, in the United States.
Founded in 1862, its roots e ...
'' and, after 1929, the ''Sentinel'''s in-county competitor, the ''
Kennebec Journal
The ''Kennebec Journal'' is a six-day morning daily newspaper published in Augusta, Maine. It is owned by MaineToday Media, which also publishes the state's largest newspaper, the ''Portland Press Herald''.
The newspaper covers Augusta and the su ...
''.
Gannett's ownership also saw the paper become less politically biased.
Gannett and his heirs—no relation to the Virginia-based chain called
Gannett Company
Gannett Co., Inc. () is an American mass media holding company headquartered in McLean, Virginia, in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area.The Seattle Times Company, which rechristened the chain " Blethen Maine Newspapers". Frank Blethen, a descendant of ''Seattle Times'' founder Albert Blethen, a Maine native, later called the purchase "the largest and riskiest investment in our history" but a necessary move to keep the newspapers from becoming part of a corporate chain.
It was sold in 2009 to MaineToday Media.
In December 2009, the newspaper was criticized for firing one of its journalists who had made negative remarks about the gay-rights group
Human Rights Campaign
The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) is an American LGBTQ advocacy group. It is the largest LGBTQ political lobbying organization within the United States. Based in Washington, D.C., the organization focuses on protecting and expanding rights for LGB ...