In my other life as a political columnist, I get paid to delve into the details of candidates and campaigns, and to use what I discover to insult the people I’m covering. But along with the jokes and snarky comments, I sometimes try to insert a little information in my columns that might assist my readers in making their choices when they mark their ballots.

That’s not really what I’m hired to do, but I throw it in as a bonus at no additional charge.

Better late than … The Portland Press Herald and Maine Sunday Telegram have filed new circulation figures with the Audit Bureau of Circulations more than two weeks after numbers for other Maine dailies were released.

CFO O-U-T: According to the May 7 Boston Herald, Phoenix Media/Communications Group has dismissed ten employees, including its chief financial officer, Richard Gallagher, who was also the chief operating officer of the company.

Aggravated by aggregators: The idea behind Maine News Simply is, as the name implies, not terribly complicated:

Late? Biased? Vague? All of the above? The MaineToday Media newspapers – The Portland Press Herald, Kennebec Journal and Morning Sentinel – didn’t distinguish themselves last week with their indifferent coverage of the race for Maine’s governor.

The Audit Bureau of Circulations, the non-profit agency that keeps track of how many newspapers are sold, has released its latest report on Maine papers covering the six months ending March 30, 2010.

Notable by its absence from the ABC list are The Portland Press Herald and Maine Sunday Telegram, which for the first time in recent memory didn’t file figures with the bureau.

Pseudo-journalism: In February, Bangor Daily News staff writer Diana Bowley wrote an article headlined “National show to feature Foxcroft Academy.”

Scoop droop: Maine’s daily newspapers, television stations, and news services all missed the story. Democratic gubernatorial candidate John Richardson’s campaign was in big trouble over allegedly fraudulent contributions, and Richardson was planning to drop out of the race.

Devaluing the Roadshow: For about a week, the Buying Roadshow, a New Mexico-based company that purchases old jewelry and antiques, has been running huge ads – three full pages each day – in The Portland Press Herald touting its appearance at a South Portland hotel. This Roadshow bears no relation to the PBS program “Antiques Roadshow,” which appraises old items and explains their origins.

Topless vs. brainless: The April 11 Maine Sunday Telegram featured a front-page story by staff writer Edward D. Murphy that did a decent job of explaining why a group of women had recently marched topless through the streets of Portland.