LEWISTON – Two stalwarts of Oxford County news – the Advertiser-Democrat of Norway and the Rumford Falls Times of Rumford – have joined the Sun Journal group of publications following the sale of the two weeklies to the Lewiston-based daily Tuesday.
No immediate changes are anticipated for the newspapers or their staff of 32.
“These newspapers reflect the communities they serve, just as the Sun Journal has done for over 100 years,” said James Costello Sr., publisher of the Sun Journal. “We’re very excited about this opportunity to continue the papers’ mission of serving their local communities.”
Howard James, publisher of the two weeklies since 1976, plans to spend time with family and focus on writing books. He said his recent 70th birthday prompted him to sell the papers.
“I’m in good health and (wife) Judy is in good health and we just decided to go out and enjoy life,” said James.
The two weeklies will be overseen by Ed Snook, Sun Journal treasurer and publisher of the weekly Bethel Citizen. The Sun Journal publishes seven days a week for 100,000 readers in Franklin, Oxford and Androscoggin counties.
Snook said the Sun Journal purchased the two weeklies to increase readership and ad revenues. Combined, the two weeklies have a circulation of 10,500 readers – a 3.8 percent increase since 2002.
The James Newspapers group includes some smaller, promotions-based businesses; a Web design and hosting business; and a commercial printing operation with a Goss offset press. All are included in the sale.
The purchase price was not disclosed. The sale folds more than 300 years of western Maine publishing into one company. The Advertiser-Democrat’s roots go back to 1824; the Rumford Falls Times’ to 1883, when it was founded as the Canton Telephone.
“It’s difficult,” said James of his decision to sell the papers. “I’ve been deeply involved in this community as a reporter, editor and editorial writer – fully engaged is how I’d describe it.”
He said he’s proud of his reputation as an extremely competitive and hard-driving journalist. James began his newspaper career in the late 1950s in Michigan before accepting a reporting job with the Chicago Tribune in 1959.
James won the Pulitzer Prize for national reporting in 1968 while at the Christian Science Monitor. His series on corruption and incompetence in the country’s judicial system was later published in book form entitled “Crisis in the Courts.” In the early to mid-’70s, he reported and wrote extensively about troubled and abandoned youth, which led to two more books. He plans to pursue both those topics for future books.
James bought the Rumford Falls Times in June 1976, then the next month bought the Advertiser-Democrat. He married the former Judy Munro, publisher of the Berlin (N.H.) Reporter, in 1971.
They expect to maintain their Norway home and remain active in the community, said James.
The sale was described as a “great fit” between the two newspaper groups, said Costello, who praised James’ “tremendous editorial leadership.”
The Sun Journal is operated by the third and fourth generations of Costellos. In addition to the Oxford County weeklies, the Sun Journal also publishes three coastal weeklies, since purchasing the Falmouth Forecaster in September 2003.
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