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The Maine Sunday Telegram, Portland Press Herald and a longtime Westbrook, Gorham and Buxton reporter were honored at the New England Newspaper & Press Association’s annual newspaper conference on Friday.
The Maine Sunday Telegram received the 2025 Sunday Newspaper of the Year Award.
“We’re ecstatic that the Maine Sunday Telegram has been named the best Sunday paper in New England,” said Scott Monroe, managing editor of the Maine Trust for Local News.
It’s a testament to the hard work from all corners of METLN, Monroe said, from enterprise reporters and photojournalists gathering quality news to everyone who has a hand in designing the final project.
“It’s clear that hard work has been recognized,” he said.
The Portland Press Herald also received a Publick Occurrences Award for its work on the “Breakdown in Maine” documentary series in partnership with Maine Public and PBS’s “Frontline.”
“Produced after the deadliest mass shooting in Maine’s history, the series attempts to answer crucial questions as to why the shooter was allowed to keep his guns and was not involuntarily committed for mental-health treatment despite numerous warning signs,” an NENPA description says. “The story is skillfully told through text, audio and video.”
ROBERT LOWELL
After a quarter-century of reporting on the towns of Westbrook and Gorham, and many covering Buxton as well, Robert “Bob” Lowell has been recognized for his commitment to the craft — and “commitment” may be an understatement.
Lowell was honored by the New England Newspaper & Press Association, receiving the Bob Wallack Community Journalism Award on Thursday.
“It’s just overwhelming, it hasn’t registered yet,” Lowell said Friday evening.
Lowell said he was especially honored, having known its namesake.
“I knew Bob Wallack,” Lowell said. “He was a great individual and had a lifetime dedicated to journalism and the news business. So, to get this award is quite meaningful.”
Before being hired as a Westbrook and Gorham reporter for The American Journal in 2000, Lowell’s entrance into the journalism field came while he was serving in the Navy. He graduated from the Defense Department’s School of Information and was assigned to two aircraft carriers, where his responsibilities included writing press releases on missions and crew members.
Lowell wrapped up his career with the Navy in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. He prepared daily briefings and edited the Guantanamo Gazette, a publication for service members stationed there.
Several years after returning home, Lowell joined the American Journal and continues to cover the communities of Westbrook, Gorham and Buxton digitally, with work still appearing in print in the Portland Press Herald.
“It’s different every week,” Lowell said. “There are a lot of routine meetings, and there’s been a lot of development in Westbrook and Gorham, with more coming … There will be plenty to write about in the coming weeks.”
In 2025, Lowell may be the epitome of an “old school” journalist.
The industry has evolved throughout his career, but Lowell has stuck with the traditional style. With smartphones and laptops at his disposal, he takes his notes by hand, calls in from the field with his flip phone and snaps photos with an old digital camera.
But some tools have been game-changers, Lowell said, especially the internet.
“When I started, it was a manual typewriter and a rotary phone,” Lowell said. “I was at the American Journal when email and the internet first came into being. I think the internet made a huge difference in the way reporters work.”
Lowell’s dedication to his communities has inspired and earned the praise of co-workers past and present.
“No one is more deserving of this award than Bob,” said Amy Canfield, a former editor of the American Journal and several southern Maine weekly papers who worked with Lowell for eight years. “He cares about the people who live there and works tirelessly to keep them informed about what their elected officials and their neighbors are up to.”
From his ‘We Love To Eat’ and rotating Westbrook, Gorham and Buxton ‘Notes’ columns to features, investigative stories and coverage of countless municipal meetings, Lowell has written thousands of articles.
Over 2,000 of his stories have been published on the Press Herald’s website — and that’s just in the past six years.
Bailey Arnold-Fuchs, a copyeditor at the Maine Trust for Local News, has worked on many of those articles in recent years.
“He’s one of the most dedicated reporters I’ve ever met,” Arnold-Fuchs said. “He really knows his communities.”
And Lowell is always sure to check in with his fellow reporters to get the scoop on their beats and share his own.
“He is a fantastic reporter and an even better co-worker,” said Sydney Richelieu, a community reporter covering Biddeford, Saco and Old Orchard Beach. “Every time I see Bob, he has a smile on his face, and he never fails to greet me.”
When asked what advice he would give budding journalists, he said to “keep asking questions.”
“Don’t just take what people are willing to feed you,” Lowell said. “There are a lot of smoke screens, so you have to look through them and figure out what’s going on.”
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