When journalists compete, readers win | Good news for people in Biddeford

Whether you’re buying a new car or just picking up the week’s groceries, you are always better off when you have choices and competition in the marketplace.

It’s no different when it comes to the highly competitive world of journalism. Having choices about where you get your local news ensures that you are well-informed and up to date about what is happening in your community.

Most journalists I know – me included – would rather have “exclusive rights” when it comes to local news reporting. We’re doing just fine. There’s no need for competition. Thank you very much.

But if there is only one dominant media outlet in any market – large or small –news consumers suffer.

Competition keeps journalists on their toes, hungry to find new and more detailed information. Competition also serves the public as an appropriate ‘check and balance’ on each reporter and every media outlet.

Bias and inaccuracy are exposed when multiple journalists cover the same beat.

The idea – and the importance – of “getting the scoop” is a well-known mantra, that even those outside the realm of the so-called Fourth Estate understand and appreciate.

But getting the scoop should be much more focused on getting the story right rather than getting the story first.

So, how does all of this impact local news consumers in Biddeford?

What’s the buzz? Media competition in Biddeford

The local news landscape in the Biddeford area has changed dramatically over the last 30 years.

I have written about this subject ad-nauseam on my personal blog, Lessons in Mediocrity.

I grew up here, and when I returned to Biddeford in the mid-1990s, there were three newspapers regularly covering City Hall, local politics, news and events.

The Portland Press Herald – Maine’s largest daily newspaper – had a fully-staffed regional bureau on Main Street. The legendary and award-winning Journal Tribune – an afternoon daily – was then “the paper of record.”

At the same time, the weekly Biddeford-Saco-OOB Courier – a locally-owned publication — was keeping the big boys on their toes, filling the gaps and providing (during my tenure as editor) a somewhat manic approach to covering City Hall.

What happened?

For all intents and purposes, it was like a slow-acting bomb was triggered. There were a lot of things at play, most notably corporate restructuring of local media and big changes in how consumers accessed their news and information.

Welcome to the internet and social media.

Suddenly, everyone was a reporter. The Fourth Estate was being overrun by a mob of discontented citizens who no longer trusted the media or valued its self-described role as guardians of local news and information.

The Journal Tribune – after more than a century of providing local news in Biddeford – permanently closed its doors in October 2019. The Press Herald closed its regional bureau; and the Courier was sold and then – just last year – ceased publishing its print edition and was folded into an electronic newsletter distributed by the Press Herald.

Rising from the ashes

It may have happened slowly, but over time folks in the Biddeford area realized that they were living in a vacuum of local news coverage. The local newspapers were always taken for granted.

Many of us didn’t recognize how lucky we were to have three independent, professional publications covering Biddeford news.

Not surprisingly, it was a local journalist who took the very first step in filling the news vacuum in Biddeford.

Liz Gotthelf, a former Journal Tribune reporter, launched Saco Bay News – a digital publication – only months after her employer sent her and her co-workers packing in 2020.

It likely would have been easier for Liz to find a job at another newspaper or go into the much more lucrative field of public relations. But with tenacity and grit, she almost single-handedly built a trusted, local media source.

Saco Bay News does an excellent job of covering local news, but since Liz is basically running it as a one-person show, she is stretched thin and challenged by simultaneously covering three communities: Biddeford, Saco and Old Orchard Beach.

Another fighter enters the ring

Almost two years ago, I found myself increasingly frustrated about some local issues, including Biddeford’s brash and rather obnoxious former city manager and a lack of coverage about a controversial project put forth by the University of New England.

In November of 2024, I tentatively launched the Biddeford Gazette as a special section on my blog. Two months later – following my wife’s suggestion – I formally launched the Gazette as a stand-alone publication.

Biddeford is the largest community in York County, and the eighth-largest city in Maine. I thought the city deserved its own news source.

I doubt that Liz – a good friend and former co-worker – was very happy about a new competitor, but readers almost immediately embraced the Gazette because of its commitment to be a Biddeford-only publication.

There’s an old saying: “Write what you know.”

Well, I know Biddeford. My family’s roots here go back generations. I was raised on the third-floor of a Quimby Street triple decker and received First Communion at St. Mary’s.

Heck, I even had a paper route delivering the Journal Tribune in the 1970s.

As a professional journalist, I have been covering the city of Biddeford for nearly 30 years. Thus, I have a somewhat unfair advantage over Liz and various reporters from the Press Herald. I know this city and its people, and they know me.

The media landscape continues to change

Today, any person with a smartphone and an internet connection can set themselves up as a journalist or as “a community reporter.”

That’s a good thing, and that’s a bad thing. Allow me to explain.

Last year, during a small, community symposium about local media issues that was hosted by The Maine Monitor at the McArthur Library, several folks raised concerns about how to “separate the wheat from the chaff.”

In an age of rampant internet communication, how are consumers supposed to discern and distinguish the news being fed to them, asked Susan Gold, a veteran journalist who once worked at the Journal Tribune.

Sadly, there is no easy answer to that question.

As I said at the top, increased competition among the media is good for you, but you have to be careful.

A few months ago, another digital media outlet emerged in Biddeford.

The Biddeford Buzz was launched last summer by Josh Wolfe, a man who was reportedly less than satisfied with the area’s existing news coverage, especially the Gazette.

The Biddeford Buzz may not be my cup of tea. Josh has had no editorial training or professional news experience prior to launching his own publication. For example, the Buzz recently published a story about a political candidate simply by “copying and pasting” something the candidate wrote on Facebook. She called me to complain. “He [Wolfe] never even called me,” she said.

But what Mr. Wolfe may lack in experience, he more than compensates with enthusiasm and a dogged desire to keep other reporters on their own toes.

Unlike many other reporters, Wolfe has become a regular fixture at Biddeford City Council meetings. He has a near perfect attendance record, always sitting up front and eager to cover even rather benign city issues.

Furthermore, — and perhaps most importantly — the Biddeford Buzz gives its readers and others another platform to share their own news and opinions about the city of Biddeford. That’s very important, especially for people who have a rather dim view of the Gazette or other local publications.

More choices often lead to better outcomes, and at least Biddeford consumers are no longer living in a news vacuum

CORRECTION: The original article contained an error. The Journal Tribune closed in October 2019, not in 2020. The story has been updated, and we apologize for the error.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Randy Seaver is the editor and founder of the Biddeford Gazette. He is a veteran journalist and regularly blogs about media issues at Lessons In Mediocrity | Outlaw Journalist. He may be contacted at randy@randyseaver.com

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