Founded in 2024 with vastly different backstories, the Biddeford Gazette and the Midcoast Villager are growing the Maine Independent News Collaborative from eight to ten this summer.
Founded as a nonprofit to keep Biddeford residents connected to their community through professionally reported journalism less than two years ago, the Biddeford Gazette has already had to tackle tragedy in its community, and shown that even the smallest newsroom can provide news and information that is critical to community understanding and healing. Editor Randy Seaver notes that “the Biddeford Gazette is basically a one-man operation and has been primarily self-funded since our launch. It is our hope to continue growth, and reach a point where we are able to financially support additional reporting resources.” You can help them build momentum in that effort by donating here.
Meanwhile and about 100 miles downeast, four midcoast newspapers owned by Reade Brower were reborn as the Midcoast Villager, a weekly newspaper reimagined for the modern era with big goals for building community through exploring solutions. “We’re the paper of record for Knox and Waldo [counties], so we think about all that entails—news, arts and culture, holding government to account,” said publisher Aaron Britt. The Villager works to meet that mission weekly in print and every day online, so digital investment is key. Britt and his team are working on modernizing backend technology systems. “We’re living with a bunch of legacy decisions and processes, but you can’t just turn everything off and restart either.” The Villager team is in the midst of their first fundraising campaign this summer. You can join them here.
The power of collaboration is in bringing more resources to bear than any one of us can muster – whether that’s reporting a big story, fundraising for a project across several newsrooms, or sharing insights with each other about upgrades to back end systems that support getting our journalism in the hands of readers. We are excited to welcome the Biddeford Gazette and the Midcoast Villager teams into the MINC family so we all gain each others’ strengths as we work to grow our service to our communities.