Thursday, May 23

The people behind the Portland Chamber Music Festival are teaming up again with the crew at SPACE Gallery to try to get somebody under 70 to listen to this stuff. That shouldn’t be hard, since tonight’s program, Different Trains, includes modern composer Steve Reich’s eponymous piece, as well as a far-out number by John Zorn and the premiere of a new work by local composer Beth Wiemann titled “Minor blasts, some flurries.” It starts at SPACE (538 Congress St., Portland) at 8 p.m. Tix: $12 (under 70 admitted with grandparent). 828-5600. space538.org.

MaineToday Stops Disclaiming Pingree

by Al Diamon

The boss’s wife gets a pass: Ever since hedge fund manager S. Donald Sussman bought a majority stake in the MaineToday Media newspapers in 2012, the company has included disclaimers in any story dealing with Sussman’s wife, Democratic U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree of Maine’s 1^st District.

These frequent reminders of MaineToday’s inherent conflict of interest are repetitive and space-consuming, but they’re absolutely necessary, because to do otherwise would open the papers up to charges of secretly slanting news stories in Pingree’s favor.

Except, now MTM is doing otherwise.

There was no disclaimer attached to Washington bureau chief Kevin Miller’s May 19 column, which included an item about Pingree. Likewise, Miller’s May 20 piece on agriculture bills before Congress, one of which is sponsored by Pingree and another of which she opposes, is disclaimer-less.

Perhaps these are oversights (I could find out if MaineToday editors ever returned my phone calls). But if not, this is a serious ethical lapse. The argument that most readers already know Pingree and Sussman are married doesn’t hold water, since there’s no way to determine if that’s true. And even if it is, it’s important to keep the record straight for newcomers and those with short memories.

MaineToday has a sketchy record of revealing its conflicts. Under former CEO Richard Connor, it regularly omitted any mention of minority owner Robert C.S. Monks from stories about projects he or his family were involved in. The company still hasn’t mentioned that Monks is no longer involved with MTM. Nor has it bothered to explain exactly who the remaining minority shareholders are. Which means the Pingree disclaimers may not be the only ones MaineToday is missing.

Inspection of inspections gets high marks: The May 19 Maine Sunday Telegram kicked some serious butt. The front page featured two quality news stories and one outstanding investigative piece.

Let’s start with the latter. Staff writer Randy Billings spent lots of time, effort and Sussman cash digging out the facts on Maine’s shoddy and inconsistent history of restaurant inspections. Billings overcame such barriers as the state’s impenetrable record-keeping system, subjective standards for assessing violations and rules that are among the least restrictive in the nation to get at the facts, which are that inspections are less frequent, complaints are up, and finding out how a particular eatery rates is almost impossible. His work was detailed, but not excessively so, and he avoided the catastrophic rhetoric that mars many investigative stories. His editors gave him space to lay out the facts, and he made excellent use of it.

Further strengthening the Telegram lineup was Kennebec Journal staff writer Betty Adams’ fine piece on security problems at the state’s only facility for people with serious mental illnesses who have committed crimes. Adams’ story wasn’t as tightly edited as Billings’, but still managed to illuminate a serious issue without resorting to sensationalism.

Finally, there’s staff writer Eric Russell’s timely follow-up on the Maine Turnpike Authority’s controversial rate hikes last year. The state’s media have traditionally let stories like this slide, forgetting about such issues as soon as the protests fade. Russell uncovers some good information about pike revenues (up, but not by all that much) and traffic (down, but not by all that much) that was just sitting there waiting for any journalist with a bit of initiative to pick up.

It took me considerably longer than usual to read this week’s Telegram, but it was time well spent.

De-Connorized: The last significant executive from the Richard Connor era at MaineToday Media is gone. Bill Thompson – hired by Connor as an editorial page editor, but inexplicably elevated to editorship of the Kennebec Journal and Morning Sentinel – is out, according to a May 20 memo to staff from MaineToday CEO Lisa DeSisto.

Scott Monroe, the KJ’s city editor and a former reporter, will take over as interim managing editor of both papers. Jim Evans will become city editor of the Sentinel,  while Susan Cover was named interim city editor of the Augusta paper.

DeSisto also said, “This is a critical time for all MTM properties as we are on the verge of go-live for the new content management systems for print and online.”

I’m not sure what that means, but a MaineToday official said earlier this year that the company was planning to start charging for online content.

Al Diamon can be emailed at aldiamon@herniahill.net.

Sunday, May 19

You know back in the May 17 Highlights listing, where I was talking about soulful, clap-along blues? Well, The Bones of J.R. Jones (a.k.a. singer-guitarist J.R. Linaberry) delivers the goods too, in spades, albeit in a more stripped-down, indie-oldtime fashion than the HBQ. Brooklyn singer-songwriter Malaena Cadiz opens at the Oak and the Ax (140 Main St., Biddeford) at 8 p.m. Tix: $8 (all ages). theoakandtheax.com.

Sun Gods in Exile.

Saturday, May 18

Hillbillies are not a strictly southern phenomenon. Seems anyplace that gets mountainous breeds these carnivorous rock people. Plenty of ’em will be gathering around fires today for the Hillbilly Garden Party, a day- and nightlong bash in the woods of Poland Spring (409 Maine St./Route 26) with barbeque, hot cars, cool beer and a cavalcade of garage rock, metal and psychobilly bands, including Sun Gods in Exile, Thee Icepicks, Mad Gingers, and The Murder Weapon. The music starts at 1 p.m. I’m guessing there won’t be any hillbillies at the Bluestocking Film Series, a mini-fest of shorts by and about women, which takes place today and tomorrow at Maine College of Art’s Osher Hall (522 Congress St., Portland). The shorts screen tonight beginning at 7 p.m. Tix: $9 ($6 students). A free symposium on gender equality on and off the screen takes place at Osher tomorrow at 4 p.m. bluestockingfilms.com.

Letting George Smith Run Wild

by Al Diamon

SAM I am not: There appears to be some upheaval on the board of directors of the Sportsman’s Alliance of Maine. I use the word “appears” because my only source of information on the resignation of two longtime board members and one recent addition is a blog posting by former SAM executive director George Smith. Smith – who, since becoming a journalist of sorts, has had a contentious relationship with his former employer – doesn’t bother to explain why the three board members called it quits, other than to say one of them didn’t like the organization’s “new direction.” He also doesn’t provide any information on whether the resignations were related.

In short, his posting comes off as a thinly veiled attack on SAM’s current administration, with whom Smith has had his differences.

There’s nothing wrong with Smith expressing his opinions, but there is something wrong with the way the Bangor Daily News, which hosts Smith’s blog, is handling this matter.

First off, the BDN originally posted the piece about the resignations on its home page with no designation that it was a blog entry. Even though that label was added within a couple of hours, it was initially presented as a news story. This isn’t the first time Smith’s stuff has shown up online without being properly noted as bloggage. In fact, it’s not uncommon for op-eds and blog entries from lots of writers to be posted on the newspaper’s website with nothing to indicate they aren’t straight news. When I’ve brought this to the attention of Bangor Daily editors, I’ve been told these postings are “an oversight,” “a technical glitch” or “a one-time error.” Nevertheless, such misleading entries persist.

More disturbing is that in spite of his obvious conflict of interest, Smith seems to have the SAM beat to himself. Neither the BDN nor any other media outlet has bothered to follow up on his information to find out what’s really going on at perhaps the most powerful special interest group in Maine. There’s some real reporting to be done here. But no real reporters are doing it.

Psychic news: While I’m on the subject of the Bangor Daily’s bloggers, mention should be made of a May 15 posting by Carol McCracken, who writes about Portland’s Munjoy Hill neighborhood. McCracken reported that the city’s Public Art Committee had narrowly voted to oppose plans for a hotel developer to take ownership of a small public park in Congress Square. She noted that the committee’s position would be conveyed to the Congress Square Redesign Study Group.

“The CSRSG will vote on the proposal,” McCracken wrote, “and make a recommendation against the proposal to the HCDC [I think this stands for the City Council’s Housing and Community Development Committee, although the story doesn’t say] and City Council.”

McCracken doesn’t explain how she knows the group’s recommendation will be negative, since it won’t meet and vote until next week. But I don’t need to be clairvoyant to know this blog needs some serious editorial oversight.

Attention to ethical detail: Bangor Daily reporter Judy Harrison deserves credit for making sure her May 16 story on a man charged with stealing money from charitable organizations contained an essential detail. In her last sentence, Harrison mentioned that the BDN helped raise some of the cash that was allegedly stolen.

A lot of journalists would have overlooked that little point, but it’s important that the information be included to mitigate claims of bias or conflict of interest.

Sunday kind of feeling: Reliable sources say the Journal Tribune in Biddeford is starting a Sunday paper. The first issue is due out June 16. According to the owners of two businesses that were contacted about advertising, the publication will be free initially, although plans call for paid circulation eventually.

JT publisher Jim Freeland did not return a phone call seeking confirmation.

Al Diamon can be emailed at aldiamon@herniahill.net.

Friday, May 17

The Heritage Blues Quartet plays some seriously soulful, goodtime, clap-along, bayou-flavored boogie. What more do you need to know? Oh yeah, they’re at One Longfellow Square (181 State St., Portland) at 8 p.m. Tix: $25 (all ages). 761-1757. onelongfellowsquare.com.

Wednesday, May 15

The famed percussion octet STOMP is still being allowed to make a racket in the finest concert halls on earth. They bring their latest touring show to town tonight and tomorrow at Merrill Auditorium (20 Myrtle St., Portland) at 7 p.m. Tix: $45-$60. 842-0800. portlandovations.org.

Non-Mainstream Media Has Its Faults

by Al Diamon

Much is made by extremists on both the left and right of the general untrustworthiness of the so-called mainstream media. Ultra-conservatives believe all the news is filtered through the inherent left-wing biases of reporters and editors. Mega-liberals are convinced important information is suppressed by corporate overlords. Lack of evidence in no way deters these misconceptions.

The MSM detractors often claim their own online networks provide the only unfiltered avenues for information. And they’re right. It is unfiltered. Which means nobody bothered to figure out if the stuff they’re reporting is true.

This week in Maine, there was a stunning demonstration of the shortcomings of the extremist media. A website called Secure Our Freedom, which caters to gun-rights advocates, militia members and others who believe constitutional protections are being eroded, began reporting on May 12 that, “We are receiving unconfirmed reports of [United Nations] movement in Maine. Reports include connex trailers and tanks being moved along I-95 (between Bangor & Portland) and UN equipment being moved VIA (sic) shut down railways. There are some reports of local Militias mobilizing.”

This story was prompted by all sorts of social-media weirdness, including a claim the Casco Bay Bridge had been locked open (the poster was “too afraid to take a photo”), an eyewitness reporting there were “UN troops in Bangor near the airport” and a warning that “SOMETHING IS HAPPENING OR ABOUT TO HAPPEN.”

Difficult to dispute that last one.

A day later, when the site admitted there didn’t seem to be any truth to the report of a UN incursion into Maine, one commenter seemed to blame everything on President Obama, claiming it was all a “False Flag event” designed to distract the citizenry.

It would all be laughable if the site didn’t contain frequent mentions of revolution, mobilization and other calls to violent action against an enemy that was nowhere to be found. Whatever the mainstream media’s faults (and there are many), it rarely falls victim to this level of paranoia.

Not to mention irresponsibility and inaccuracy.

Al Diamon can be emailed at aldiamon@herniahill.net.

Tuesday, May 14

Now in its 24^th year, the Little Festival of the Unexpected at Portland Stage Company (25A Forest Ave., Portland) is still unpredictable. The series of dramatic readings of new work and dialogues about drama runs from May 13 to 18, and includes plays like Ted Burns’ To Kill a Mocking Nerd and Ian MacAllister-McDonald’s The Vikings of Munjoy Hill. Tonight it’s Veils, by Tom Coash, preceded by The Card, by E.B. Coughlin, at 7 p.m. Tix: $13. 774-0465. portlandstage.org.

Kate Schrock.

Friday, May 10

Literary Death Match is like a book reading crossed with a roast crossed with a contest of some sort. Four authors square off for six minutes each before three wise-cracking judges, and someone, somewhere, gets a prize. It’s happening at SPACE Gallery (538 Congress St., Portland) at 7:30 p.m. Tix: $8-$10 (all ages). 828-5600. space538.org.

Saturday, May 11

It’s not just for the monocled anymore. The classy yet casual Portland Club is throwing its Spring Bash, with barbeque, a big cash bar, and rockabilly stalwarts Pete Witham & The Cozmik Zombies. The party starts at 6:30 p.m. Tix: $20 and a non-perishable food item (benefits the Maine Hunger Initiative). 956-8943. theportlandclub.org.

Sunday, May 12

Homegrown singer-songwriter Kate Schrock plays jazzy, folky, soulful songs from her new album, Solo Imperfecto, and her impressive back catalogue, at the St. Lawrence Arts Center (76 Congress St., Portland) at 7 p.m. Tix: $12 (all ages). 775-5568. stlawrencearts.org.