Not Mentioning Monks – Again

by Al Diamon

Owner? What owner? When Richard Connor ran MaineToday Media – publisher of the Portland Press Herald, Kennebec Journal and Morning Sentinel – reporters were told explicitly not to mention the involvement of Robert C.S. Monks in many stories involving his business and family ties. According to several sources at MaineToday, Monks, who was and, according to his website, still is a minority owner and board member of the company, didn’t like to see his name associated with controversies.

After Donald Sussman bought a majority of MTM in 2012, the policy appeared to change. Disclosures about Monks’ role in a few stories showed up in the papers. But on Feb. 19, the rule on mentioning Monks seemed to revert to the Connor-era version.

On that day, the Press Herald ran a story by staff writer Edward D. Murphy on progress in negotiations between the state and the Sprague Corp. on a new lease for land at Crescent Beach State Park in Cape Elizabeth. Sprague is owned by the Black Point Corp., and according to his website, Monks is Black Point’s chairman.

Under those circumstances, it’s difficult to imagine he’s not involved in these dealings. And if he is, it ought to have been mentioned in the article.

I hope this is an oversight, but given MaineToday’s history of concealing such information, reporters and editors should be more vigilant in avoiding these sorts of mistakes.

(If, by chance, the explanation for the omission of a disclaimer is that Monks is no longer associated with MTM, it would seem as if that information should have been reported before this in the interest of the transparency these newspapers are constantly urging others to practice.)

App gap: At least one part of Connor’s legacy at MaineToday is gone. The clunky app for mobile devices the company debuted in March, 2011 has been put out of its misery.

I’m not sure when the demise occurred, as my sources at the company were mostly unaware it had been shut down, but it’s been gone for several months. Before that, the app had received terrible reviews from users, and my one experience with it was an exercise in frustration.

I’m told plans are underway to introduce a new version later this year, one that takes into account its predecessor’s shortcomings and corrects them.

That’s my union: Earlier this month, I took the Maine Public Broadcasting Network to task for failing to provide sufficient disclosure in stories involving the Maine Education Association. While reporters on public radio did mention in stories involving the MEA that the union represented some staff at MPBN, it never revealed that most of the journalists filing those pieces were members.

Now, that’s changed.

A new disclaimer specifically stating that reporters are represented by the MEA has begun showing up in news stories.

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