When the nation’s eyes turned to Maine, Press Herald journalists led the way
- Jul 28
- 2 min read
The state of Maine has been a primary focus of national media coverage this year given its outsized role in national politics. This month, the attention directed toward the Pine Tree State dramatically intensified.
“The spotlight has been shining so brightly on our state, it’s at times blinding,” said Carolyn Fox, executive editor for the Maine Trust for Local News.
It started July 6 when, in the wake of a serious rape allegation against Graham
Platner, the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate was suddenly up for grabs.
“We thought picking a new Senate candidate would be the biggest story our reporters would be covering [that] week,” Fox said. “We were wrong.”
But when a federal immigration officer shot and killed Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero, a Colombian immigrant, in Biddeford, Maine, on July 13, the national media focus quickly pivoted from Maine’s U.S. Senate race to this small coastal city south of Portland.
Two of the first journalists on the scene were Press Herald reporters Abigail Driscoll and Isabelle Oss, who cover York County. With a year-round commitment to hyper-local, community-based coverage, the Press Herald team stood well positioned to respond and report quickly and effectively when big news broke.
Since then, the Press Herald’s reporters and photographers have covered the story nonstop, scooping national outlets on crucial details along the way – including the identities of the victim and ICE agent. As a public service to Maine communities, the Press Herald opened unlimited access to essential coverage of the ICE shooting, subsequent protests and political fallout.
The 55 stories that were free to the public in July garnered almost 600,000 pageviews. The Live Updates file regarding the ICE shooting was one of the most visited story destinations the Press Herald has posted in the last year.
For the two-week period starting July 6, Maine Trust for Local News websites had
1.4 million visitors. Plus, the Press Herald’s coverage of the ICE shooting and U.S. Senate race has been read by more than 1 million global users on Apple News+.
As a result of that in-depth coverage and expertise, Press Herald reporters have been called on by national and international broadcast media to explain these stories from the ground – even earning on-air praise from anchors for the quality coverage.
Here’s a sampling of those media appearances, which included the BBC, Fox News, CNN, MS NOW, Maine Public and more:
Billy Kobin, Press Herald politics reporter
Dylan Tusinski, Press Herald investigative reporter
Maine Dems to select nominee for U.S. Senate - MS NOW (starts at 7:35)
Kirby Wilson, Press Herald politics editor
Rachel Estabrook, Press Herald accountability reporter
