The
Forecaster picked up on
complaint against the Press Herald's donation of $47,000 worth of free advertising to pro elected mayor groups. Perhaps the paper anticipates a lot of advertising in the support of mayoral candidates in the coming years. The paper's editorial board did
endorse the proposal but apparently did not think an endorsement was enough.
"The gift was disclosed in a post-election finance report for Elect Our Mayor/Yes on 1, a group including the Portland Regional Chamber and the League of Young Voters.
According to the Dec. 14 finance report, the Press Herald did not charge the chamber for several ads in the week leading up to the Nov. 2 vote on the City Charter amendment.
...
Press Herald Executive Editor Scott Wasser previously said he had no knowledge of the advertising arrangement and defended the newspaper's coverage of the charter amendment campaign, suggesting opponents were criticizing the newspaper because their side lost.
According to newspaper archives, the Press Herald published two editorials in support of an elected mayor, and its last news story ran on Oct. 25. The free ads began running the next day and continued through Election Day on Nov. 2.
Wasser told The Forecaster he had no knowledge of the ads."
