I just learned from a reading a story in Saco Bay Newsthat Bill Johnson – a former Saco mayor and city councilor — recently passed away at the age of 92.
This news leaves a gaping hole. I regret losing touch with Bill.
He was such a kind and wise man, and he always offered sage and measured advice. I first met him almost 30 years ago after he had just been elected to transition from serving as a Ward One councilor to becoming the city’s mayor in 1997.
He was a new mayor, and I was a new reporter in Saco, despite having grown up in that city.
Bill Johnson (left) receives a service award from Saco Mayor Ron Michaud (Portland Press Herald)Fomer mayor Bill Johnson photo from City of Saco annual report)Bill and his wife, Mary, after donating two of their beloved donkeys to Sweetser (Sweetser photo)
Bill took me under his wing and offered me advice with his warm grin and elder-statesmen sense of discipline. He was always quick to smile and had a deep laugh.
He said he was happy to be working with a reporter who had a long and personal connection to the city.
We reporters are trained to not become personally connected to the government officials they cover, but I could not help myself.
Bill was just so decent, kind and patient — a perfect grandfather of sorts. He leaves behind a legacy of public service, a love for his community and a reputation for hard work and dedication to his family.
Bill was one of a kind; a man equally comfortable in a suit and tie at some government function; or wearing a flannel shirt and wandering Saco’s northwestern rural and pastoral neighborhoods.
Bill was just so decent, kind and patient — a perfect grandfather of sorts
The late 1990s were not the best of times for Saco. There was plenty of political tension, and Bill’s job as mayor was anything but easy.
The city was still rebounding from serious and consequential financial difficulties, but Bill was the right leader at the right time. He was quiet, measured and thoughtful. He never spoke an unkind word about anyone.
Bill Johnson will be missed . . . by me and by everyone who ever had the good fortune to cross paths with him.
Godspeed, Mr. Mayor.
May you eternally rest in peace, and may your memory never be forgotten, especially in the city you loved.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR | Randy Seaver is the editor of the Biddeford Gazette. He also was a reporter who covered the city of Saco from 1997 to 2006 for the Biddeford-Saco-OOB Courier and as a freelance reporter for Saco Bay News from 2023 to 2024.
NOTE: Some photos in this story were used without expressed permission. Those photos are attributed to their original source, but may be removed, if necessary.
DISCLOSUSURE | Randy Seaver’s stepsister, Jodi MacPhail, currently serves as mayor of Saco.
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.
Liz Gotthelf (Saco Bay News photo)
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.
Roughly a dozen people gathered Tuesday at the McArthur Library in Biddeford to discuss local journalism and a rapidly changing media landscape.
The event was part of a statewide listening tour coordinated by The Maine Monitor, an online publication of the Maine Center for Public Interest Reporting, and intended to collect public feedback about how people perceive and access local news.
The July 29 event in Biddeford was co-sponsored by Saco Bay News, an online digital news outlet founded by former Journal Tribune reporter Liz Gotthelf in 2020.
“We’re here tonight to listen to you,” said Micaela Schweitzer-Bluhm, executive director of the Maine Center for Public Interest Reporting. “We want to know what matters to you when you access news about your community. How do you get your news, and what are the essential things you look for from local media?”
Biddeford Mayor Marty Grohman and Saco Mayor Jodi MacPhail attended the workshop meeting.
Josh Keefe, a government accountability reporter with the Maine Monitor, shares highlights of a break-out group discussion about local journalism during Tuesday’s event at the McArthur Library. (Seaver photo)
“One of the things I hear all the time from my constituents is that they often don’t know about things happening in the city because they don’t know where to find the information,” MacPhail said.
During his remarks, Grohman touched upon a common theme that was shared by many of the attendees: a lack of a daily print newspaper.
“I’m constantly looking for credible news,” Grohman said. “With so many different things online, it can be difficult to find credible news.”
Those attending the meeting were largely over the age of 50 and many of them reported having a hard time getting news that is both locally relevant and comprehensive.
Susan Gold of Saco is a former reporter and editor who worked many years at the Journal Tribune, the former daily newspaper that served northern York County for more than a century.
“It’s great that local governments are doing more to share news about what is happening in the community, but we also need an unbiased person to explain what is actually happening, and we need to be able to trust the accuracy of those reports,” Gold said.
According to Schweitzer-Bluhm, rural communities across Maine are being hit especially hard by a changing media landscape that has seen newsrooms shrink and local coverage evaporate.
“The heyday of print journalism gave readers coverage of town government but also issues that bind the community, whether it’s high school sports, obituaries or public notices about meetings and events,” she explained.
In just the last decade, the Biddeford-Saco area has seen a seismic change in how local news is gathered and shared.
The Portland Press Herald once maintained a local bureau on Main Street in Biddeford that housed operations for reporters, photographers and editors who covered news and events throughout Northern York County.
In 2020, the Journal Tribune, an afternoon daily newspaper based in Biddeford, ceased publication. And the weekly Biddeford-Saco Courier, which was locally owned and operated, was sold to a media conglomerate and ceased print publication earlier this year.
Those changes have many residents wondering where to turn when it comes to finding credible and accurate local news.
Several people said social media sites such as Facebook are filling some of the void when it comes to news and information, but also said social media has many pitfalls, including questionable accuracy and fairness.
“You have people attempting to report news who have no editorial oversight or training,” one woman said.
Ted Sirois of Saco said he misses the opportunity to write letters to the editor and finds himself concerned about bias in news reporting.
Today the Biddeford Saco area is served by three digital news platforms. Saco Bay News is an independent online-only publication that covers the communities of Biddeford, Saco and Old Orchard Beach.
The Biddeford Gazette, started in January this year, is another independent, online-only publication that provides hyper-local coverage of Biddeford news and events.
The Courier is now delivered as an electronic, weekly newsletter that also covers Northern York County.
The Portland Press Herald, Maine’s largest daily newspaper, today rarely covers day-to-day, local news in the Biddeford-Saco area.
“It’s certainly not like the old days,” bemoaned former Biddeford City Councilor Patricia Boston. “I miss the days of print newspapers, but I do my best to follow news in both the Gazette and Saco Bay News. It’s important for people to know what is happening in their community.”
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Randy Seaver is the editor and founder of the Biddeford Gazette. He may be contacted by email: randy@randyseaver.com
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The Courier and many other newspapers throughout southern Maine, including daily and weekly publications, are owned by the Maine Trust for Local News.
Carolyn Fox, executive editor of the Maine Trust for Local News, said the decision was “difficult,” but pointed out that a dwindling number of people rely on printed publications as their primary news source.
“To sustain and grow impactful journalism in Maine, we have to meet our readers where they are,” Fox said. “Our digital expansion creates a stronger foundation for the Maine Trust, and we’re excited to build on that in partnership with the communities we serve.”
The move to a digital platform will result in 49 layoffs of employees who print and distribute the newspapers. Fox said her company is planning to add employees to its newsrooms later this year.
The Biddeford-Saco Courier — a free weekly publication — was created and launched by David and Carolyn Flood of Saco in 1989. The paper was distributed in residential neighborhoods and available on newstands.
The Floods — who now live in Delaware — sold the Courier and several of its sister publications to the publishers of the Journal Tribune in 2007. The daily Journal Tribune newspaper closed its doors in 2019.
Flood said he was surprised by the announcement but acknowledged the industry trend. “Personally, I think printed papers are easier to read,” Flood said.
Liz Gotthelf, the publisher of Saco Bay News — another online news source in the Biddeford-Saco area — said she was not surprised by the announcement.
“To sustain and grow impactful journalism in Maine, we have to meet our readers where they are,”
– Carolyn Fox, executive editor, Maine Trust for Local News
“I think publishing local news online is a way to reach a wider range of readers,” Gotthelf said. “By focusing on a digital platform, it makes things so much easier and less expensive. Also, there are not many places that have a printing press.”
Currently, the Courier’s online presence is connected to its parent company’s web site, which can only be accessed with a paid subscription. The Courier has always been a free publication, so it remains unclear if readers will be able to access the publication without a subscription.
Both Flood and Gotthelf say they will be closely watching the Courier’s transition.
People seeking local news and information in the Biddeford-Saco area will now have three online media outlets to choose from, including the Biddeford Gazette and Saco Bay News.
Laura Seaver, publisher of the Biddeford Gazette, said the announcement was expected for a long time. “This puts everyone on a level playing field,” she said.
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Hard to believe it’s been two weeks since our last newsletter. A big thank you to all of you who have decided to join us on this journey by subscribing and/or following and liking us on Facebook.
A quick review:
Things at the Biddeford Gazette have been moving quickly and there are exciting changes on the horizon, but let’s take a quick look back:
If housing is a concern of yours, the Biddeford City Council will host a special workshop meeting at City Hall on Tuesday, Feb. 11, beginning at 5:30 p.m. There will be an opportunity for public comment. You can choose to watch the meeting online. Click here for more info about that meeting
I have been doing this work off and on for decades. The hardest part of the job is interviewing people when they are grappling with crippling grief and loss.
My colleague Liz Gotthelf and I respectfully remained in a corner while we waited for Police Chief JoAnne Fisk to ask Sgt. Jacob Wolterbeek’s parents if they would be willing to speak with the media.
Even with their permission – and gratitude – it is still the hardest part of the job, and you want to do your very best to capture the story with precision, empathy and respect.
Many officers of the Biddeford Police Department are wearing wrist bands that honor the memory of Sgt. Jacob Wolterbeek (Seaver photo)
Community Feedback:
We have received some very good feedback, suggestions and guidance from the community. Not a day goes by when I don’t hear encouraging and supportive words from my neighbors, friends and others who care deeply about Biddeford.
One person suggested that we should change and darken the font on our site to make it more readable. Done. Another person suggested that we should add an events calendar to our site. We are working on that and hope to launch a dedicated page for community events by the end of the month.
Another person who I greatly respect, told me she is enjoying reading the Gazette but advised me to slow down a bit. She said I should consider taking a day off once in a while.
Another person suggested that we try to shorten some of our stories to make them more readable. I have now imposed a 750-word limit on myself.
However, the most popular part of the Biddeford Gazette is our weekly publishing of obituaries that are updated on our website daily. Unlike other publications, we provide this service at no charge to the families or funeral homes. We consider it a public service. With the combined resources of our social media partners, we have access to more than 35,000 readers.
It’s part of our mission, I explained. We are here to promote Biddeford news, regardless of where it comes from. We simply post a link to the other guys so that when you click on their stories, our Facebook page takes you directly to their site, not our site.
No other media outlet does that: promoting news stories from other media outlets. We do it to make it easier for you to stay on top of what’s happening from a wide variety of sources.
In just the last week, I have shared stories from Saco Bay News, the Biddeford-Saco Courier, WGME-TV and WMTW-TV. Make sure to like and follow the Biddeford Gazette on Facebook so that you stay completely up to date.
What’s ahead?
We have a lot of things in the works. After all, it’s been less than 30 days since we officially launched this site.
Don’t forget that Valentine’s Day is right around the corner. In addition to chocolates and greeting cards, maybe you could throw a little love our way by subscribing to our site, and following us on Facebook.
Enjoy Winterfest this weekend!
As always, thank you so much for reading!
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BIDDEFORD GAZETTE 