Who Influences Maine News (and Their Viewers’ Views)?

Channel 2 and sister TV station Channel 6 are no longer owned by Mainers. This means that the news and editorial positions on those TV stations can be decided somewhere else by somebody across the country or part way around the world from us.

The big money behind YES on 1 could very well influence the board room of Gannett if the stakes were high enough – which they are in this case. Rep Lockman has called it “dark money.”

Look at this from the station’s own website and ask yourself, “Would George Soros-types and other dark money be able to influence the TV markets owned by Gannett? Whereas, if they had to sit across the desk from Mary Rines-Thompson (a former Maine owner) it would be quite a different matter. In 1998, the Rines-Thompson family sold WCSH 6 and sister station WLBZ 2 to Gannett Co., Inc., a leading international news and information company that publishes 103 daily newspapers including USA TODAY, as well as nearly 1,200 non-daily publications. Gannett also operates 21 other television stations reaching more than 20 million households.” Ownership of news outlets matters.

It is very important that voters know that Governor LePage strongly opposes Question #1. In view of that, consider that locally-owned Bangor Daily News gave the Governor voice to call Question #1 a “Scam” while Gannett-owned WLBZ never mentioned that he was at the NO on #1 press conference.

Always notice who owns what because it helps to understand who influences how news is reported (or not reported at all).