Reade Brower

{{Infobox person | name = Reade Brower | birth_date = {{Birth based on age as of date|66|2023|03|30}} | spouse = {{marriage|Martha Brower|1985}} }}

'''Reade Francis Brower''' is a businessperson who owned most of the newspapers in Maine for nearly a decade in the 21st century. His company, MaineToday Media, was described by ''The Maine Monitor'' as a "near-monopoly".<ref>{{Cite web |last=McCarthy |first=Patricia |date=2018-05-28 |title=Constant Concern and a Glimmer of Hope |url=https://themainemonitor.org/constant-concern-and-a-glimmer-of-hope/ |access-date=2023-09-24 |website=The Maine Monitor |language=en-US}}</ref> As of 2025, he owns three newspapers: ''The Ellsworth American'' (Ellsworth), ''The Mount Desert Islander'' (Bar Harbor), and the ''Midcoast Villager.''

== Personal life == Brower grew up in Westborough, Massachusetts, with his adoptive parents Carmel and Richard. He attended the University of Massachusetts Amherst, and graduated in 1978 with a degree in marketing. As of 2018, he is married to Martha McSweeney Brower ({{Nee|Martha McSweeney}}). They were married in 1985.<ref>{{Cite web |last=McCarthy |first=Patricia |date=2018-06-06 |title=Owning It: Reade Brower has followed heart, instincts throughout his career |url=https://themainemonitor.org/owning-it-reade-brower-has-followed-his-heart-and-instincts-to-get-where-he-is-today/ |access-date=2023-09-24 |website=The Maine Monitor |language=en-US}}</ref>

== Career == Before owning newspapers, Brower was an entrepreneur who started several companies, including an auto catalog and direct-mail company that advertised to 600,000 Maine households each week.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Richardson |first=Whit |date=2015-05-04 |title=MaineToday buyer: Entrepreneur with a community focus |url=https://www.pressherald.com/2015/05/04/mainetoday-buyer-an-entrepreneur-with-a-community-focus/ |access-date=2023-09-24 |website=Portland Press Herald |archive-date=2023-10-01 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231001200121/https://www.pressherald.com/2015/05/04/mainetoday-buyer-an-entrepreneur-with-a-community-focus/ |url-status=live }}</ref> In 1985, he founded ''The Free Press''.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Fleury Capetta |first=Kathleen |date=2024-08-07 |title=Publisher’s Letter: Building a New Future for Local News in Midcoast Maine |url=https://www.freepressonline.com/news/publisher-s-letter-building-a-new-future-for-local-news-in-midcoast-maine/article_7ce88bae-50f1-11ef-ba38-9f8e8bc44991.html |access-date=2024-08-11 |website=The Free Press |language=en}}</ref> In 2015, Brower bought MaineToday Media from financier S. Donald Sussman.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Fishell |first=Darren |date=2015-04-28 |title=Press Herald papers purchased by midcoast businessman Reade Brower |language=en-US |work=Bangor Daily News |url=http://bangordailynews.com/2015/04/28/business/press-herald-papers-purchased-by-midcoast-businessman-reade-brower/ |access-date=2023-09-24 |archive-date=2016-09-24 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160924195448/http://bangordailynews.com/2015/04/28/business/press-herald-papers-purchased-by-midcoast-businessman-reade-brower/ |url-status=live }}</ref> He continued purchasing Maine newspapers;{{Efn|See {{section link|MaineToday Media|Brower}} for an outline of some acquisitions.}} in 2017, he owned 24 papers in Maine, including four of the state's seven daily newspapers.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Carpenter |first=Murray |date=2017-11-27 |title=Meet the Media Mogul of Maine |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/26/business/media/reade-brower-maine-newspapers.html |issn=0362-4331 |postscript=; |archive-date=2017-11-28 |access-date=2017-11-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171128012915/https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/26/business/media/reade-brower-maine-newspapers.html |url-status=live }} republished in the ''Rutland Herald'' as [https://www.rutlandherald.com/news/business_vermont/the-unassuming-media-mogul-of-maine-and-vermont/article_06239eaf-7d52-5ad2-bb88-fbf669df3c41.html "The unassuming media mogul of Maine (and Vermont)"].</ref> In 2018, he had acquired six of the seven daily papers in the state, the exception being the ''Bangor Daily News'').<ref>{{Cite web |date=2018-03-23 |title=Owner Of Maine's Biggest Newspaper Buys More Publications |url=https://www.mainepublic.org/maine/2018-03-23/owner-of-maines-biggest-newspaper-buys-more-publications |access-date=2023-09-24 |website=Maine Public |language=en |archive-date=2023-10-01 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231001195943/https://www.mainepublic.org/maine/2018-03-23/owner-of-maines-biggest-newspaper-buys-more-publications |url-status=live }}</ref>

On March 30, 2023, he announced he was looking to sell or take on investors to Masthead Maine, the successor to MaineToday.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Craig |first=Steve |date=2023-04-24 |title=Press Herald owner considering sale of his newspapers to new nonprofit |url=https://www.pressherald.com/2023/04/24/press-herald-owner-considering-sale-of-his-newspapers-to-new-nonprofit/ |access-date=2023-09-24 |website=Portland Press Herald}}</ref> On March 31, ''Bangor Daily News'' reported that he owned five dailies and 25 weeklies, and six specialty publications.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Valigra |first=Lori |last2=Shepherd |first2=Michael |date=March 31, 2023 |others=Contributions by Paul Koenig |title=Press Herald owner considers selling his Maine newspaper empire |url=https://www.mainepublic.org/business-and-economy/2023-03-31/press-herald-owner-considers-selling-his-maine-newspaper-empire |website=Maine Public |agency=Bangor Daily News}}</ref> He was 66 at the time.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-03-30 |title=Masthead Maine exploring the sale of 30 newspapers |url=https://apnews.com/article/masthead-maine-newspapers-sale-16ec1bb4a75b66488885d620414fe6c9 |access-date=2023-09-24 |website=AP News |language=en}}</ref> On July 10, 2023, ''Bangor Daily News'' reported that Brower had sold the five daily newspapers and 17 weeklies he owned to the nonprofit National Trust for Local News.<ref>{{Cite web |date=July 10, 2023 |title=Maine newspaper empire will sell to a national nonprofit |url=https://www.bangordailynews.com/2023/07/10/business/maine-newspaper-empire-will-sell-to-a-nonprofit |website=Bangor Daily News}}</ref>

=== MaineStay Media === He owns six weeklies that he did not sell in 2023: ''The Ellsworth American'' (Ellsworth), ''The Mount Desert Islander'' (Bar Harbor), ''The Courier-Gazette'' (Rockland), ''The Republican Journal'' (Belfast), ''The Camden Herald'' (Camden), and ''The Free Press'' (Camden).<ref>{{Cite web |last=Monitor |first=The Maine |date=2023-07-10 |title=Nonprofit to buy Portland Press Herald and other Maine papers |url=https://themainemonitor.org/nonprofit-to-buy-portland-press-herald-and-other-maine-papers/ |access-date=2023-09-24 |website=The Maine Monitor |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Burnham |first=Kevin |date=2023-07-19 |title=Keeping the mastheads |url=https://www.boothbayregister.com/node/176417 |access-date=2023-09-30 |website=Boothbay Register |language=en |archive-date=2023-07-19 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230719225704/https://www.boothbayregister.com/node/176417 |url-status=live }}</ref> Those six papers had united under the company '''MaineStay Media''' in 2022.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-01-06 |title=Local news outlets join forces as MaineStay Media |url=https://knox.villagesoup.com/news/local-news-outlets-join-forces-as-mainestay-media/article_a9e51301-6505-5ac0-a251-fb9e42c5e414.html |access-date=2023-09-24 |website=The Courier-Gazette |language=en |archive-date=2023-10-01 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231001195920/https://knox.villagesoup.com/news/local-news-outlets-join-forces-as-mainestay-media/article_a9e51301-6505-5ac0-a251-fb9e42c5e414.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Four of those newspapers (''The Courier-Gazette, The Republican Journal, The Camden Herald'' and ''The Free Press'') were combined in 2024 to form the ''Midcoast Villager.''<ref name=":0" />

== Notes == {{notelist}}

== References == {{reflist}}

== External links == * [https://www.mainestaymedia.com/ MaineStay Media]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brower, Reade}} Category:Living people Category:1950s births Category:People from Westborough, Massachusetts Category:University of Massachusetts Amherst alumni Category:21st-century American newspaper people Category:Businesspeople from Maine Category:American newspaper chain owners