The head of Maine Trust for Local News, owner of more than 20 newspapers in Maine, is stepping down.
Publisher and Chief Executive Officer Lisa DeSisto has led the organization since it was created this summer and was CEO of the Maine Trust’s predecessors for a combined tenure of 12 years.
The Maine Trust’s publications include the Portland Press Herald, Maine Sunday Telegram, Kennebec Journal, Lewiston Sun Journal, Morning Sentinel, Times Record, the Forecaster newspapers and more than a dozen other weekly newspapers.
According to the Maine Trust, DeSisto will remain on through the end of the year. The organization did not name a replacement for the CEO position but said Stefanie Manning, a longtime executive with the Maine Trust, has been appointed to the new position of managing director.
Manning worked at the Maine Trust and its predecessor companies for 11 years and previously held senior roles at Oprah Magazine, Businessweek and Newsweek, according to the Maine Trust.
The Maine Trust for Local News is a subsidiary of the National Trust for Local News, a non
profit newspaper company. It was created this summer when the National Trust bought five dailies, 17 weeklies, specialty publications and the print operations of Reade Brower’s Masthead Maine.
DeSisto was previously CEO of Masthead Maine and its predecessor Maine Today Media. Manning also worked for Masthead Maine.
The Maine Trust is registered as a Maine-based L3C company that is a wholly owned subsidiary of the National Trust. L3C, or “low profit liability,” means the trust has a mission to support educational or charitable purposes similar to a public benefit corporation.
