Current Publishing
Current Publishing was a publishing company in southern Maine that put out four weekly newspapers. Lee Hews was the company's publisher. Jane P. Lord was the executive editor who was forced out when Current Publishing ceased to be an independent operator.
In November 2015, after years of financial issues and management trouble, the company "merged" with Sun Media, the publishers of the Weekly Forecaster newspapers, leaving the future of Current Publishing's newspapers in serious doubt. The doubt was realized in November 2016 when Current Publishing completed its merger and the company ceased to be, the biggest evidence of that being the shuttering of its flagship newspaper the Scarborugh-centric "The Current"
Publications
The four free, weekly newspapers produced by Current Publishing at the time of its demise included:
- The Current, a broadsheet launched September 13, 2001, to serve the towns of Scarborough and Cape Elizabeth. The City of South Portland was added to its coverage area in mid-2002; It ended its life as a struggling tabloid.
- The American Journal, a tabloid purchased in July, 2002, and converted to a broadsheet. It currently serves Westbrook, Gorham and Buxton; It has since been converted back to a tabloid. And will remain in print for now.
- The Lakes Region Weekly, a broadsheet launched in October, 2003, in conjunction with purchase of The Suburban News. Initially, the paper was known as The Lakes Region Suburban News. It currently serves Windham, Standish, Naples, Sebago and Casco; This too, has been converted to a tabloid.And will remain in print for now.
- The Tri-Town Weekly, a small tabloid launched in 2012, that serves Freeport, Durham and Pownal. It was killed off in the merger, leaving Durham and Pownal without reliable newspaper coverage.
Discontinued newspapers include The Citizen, a tabloid launched in 2005 to serve Cornish and surrounding towns, which ceased publication in 2007, and The Monument News, a tabloid serving Gray and New Gloucester purchased in 2008. It continued for four months and then was folded into the Lakes Region Weekly. The company has also ceased to publish its York County Papers, the Reporter, the Weekly Observer and the Sun Chronicle.
The company, now controlled fully by Sun Media also still produces a number of free, niche publications, including, in order of launch:
- My Generation, focusing on baby boomer issues;
- Maine Women, Maine's only women's magazine;
- Food Etc., a cooking magazine, and;
- 95 North, a Southern Maine travel magazine.