Is the parent company of the Portland Press Herald and more than a half dozen other daily, weekly and bimonthly publications throughout the state concerned about the fall-out from recent revelations that Hansjörg Wyss — the Swiss billionaire reportedly helping to prop-up their non-profit status — sexually harasses employees?
On this question, the Maine Trust for Local News (MTLN) has been notably silent.
According to Semafor, Hansjorg Wyss, was one of the financiers behind the 2023 purchase by the National Trust for Local News, MTLN’s parent, of Maine’s largest newspaper. Wyss is also a major donor to causes that support progressive Democrats, which has raised eyebrows across America given that he is a foreign national.
But despite repeated inquiries, MTLN remains tight-lipped about its financing — more than two years after the fact!
[RELATED: Five Months Later, “National Trust” Won’t Say Who Funded Takeover of Maine Newspapers]
Now, Wyss is named in a sexual harassment lawsuit filed by one of the former employees of his California winery.
So let’s uncork this…
The trust has not only been close-mouthed about all the money sources behind the Press Herald buy and about how much they’re paying the new CEO, Tom Wiley.
But their refusal to talk about the latest news on Wyss won’t make the questions go away, if fact, it only makes them become more urgent.
The Maine Wire has made several inquiries with the trust but received no response. In addition to Wiley, Chief Growth Officer Will Nelligan, and reporter Rachel Ohm also declined to comment on the scandal surrounding Wyss, or the role he plays in their organization.
Even the DemocracyFund.org, which partnered with the Lenfest Institute for Journalism to help fund some of the trust’s newspaper buys, is silent on Wyss.
And if Wyss is what the lawsuit claims he is, you’d think the trust suits would be concerned for their staffers.
[RELATED: Swiss Billionaire Bankrolling Maine Dems, Maine Media Faces Sexual Harassment Lawsuit: Hansjörg Wyss]
Ohm, who in August 2023 reported on the MTLN takeover of the Portland Press Herald and other Maine news brands and indicated that more information would be forthcoming, is long overdue for giving us all an update.
Do Mainers need to be worried about the reportedly handsy Wyss lurking around newsrooms across the state, or in dark alleyways in the Old Port? As if foreign influence in American politics wasn’t bad enough, now we all have to be watching our backsides.
