Gushing from Washington and Augusta: The MaineToday Media newspapers – the Maine Sunday Telegram, Kennebec Journal and Morning Sentinel – devoted a lot of space this past weekend to stories with little value, other than to inflate the egos of the people being written about. Two major feature pieces lacked any semblance of news hooks, contained questionable assessments of their subjects, and ignored unpleasant facts that might have given the articles different slants.

First, the good news: The Maine Center for Public Interest Reporting figures it has enough money on hand to pay for its in-depth coverage of selected state issues for the rest of the year.

Now, the less good news: According to MCPIR founder and Senior Editor John Christie, the tiny non-profit organization faces an uncertain future after 2011.

I know some seemingly normal people who don’t own televisions.

I know plenty of twenty- and thirty-somethings who have TVs, but get all their programming from online services such as Hulu.com. 

And I know loads of folks who pay for cable or satellite services offering hundreds of channels and monthly bills to match.

But I don’t know anyone who watches subchannels.

In the rough: Newspaper publishers have to walk a fine line. They’re required to schmooze with area movers and shakers in order to generate good will and advertising sales. But they have to be careful about becoming so chummy with the local elite that it appears they have conflicts of interest whenever their papers report on those people.

Mistrial: It’s a sad commentary on this state’s journalists when they do a better job informing the public about a spelling bee winner than they do reporting on nominations to the federal bench.

Dear Senator, Send Money: On May 18, Christine Sobiech, executive assistant to MaineToday Media CEO Richard Connor, sent an email to all the company’s employees, including reporters and editors who work for the Portland Press Herald, Kennebec Journal, and Morning Sentinel.

Several years ago, I was talking with Peter Cox, one of the founders of the original Maine Times, about an uncomfortable topic. Why, I asked Cox, were so many stories in his alternative weekly paper so … er … boring?

“I don’t care if the stories are boring,” Cox said, “so long as they’re important. In some cases, the stories are intentionally boring.”

Well, nobody ever questioned Cox’s commitment to hardcore journalism.

I’m not asking the Maine media to be critical of George Mitchell. For far too long, local news organizations have treated the former U.S. Senate majority leader from Waterville as a deity as revered as Margaret Chase Smith or Bill Cohen. To admit in print or on the air that an icon such as Mitchell had failed at something is well beyond not only the local media’s capabilities and but their imaginations, as well.

Ten p.m. bedtime: MaineToday Media – owner of the Kennebec Journal, Morning Sentinel and Portland Press Herald – had reporter Tom Bell on duty on the evening of May 11 as the state Senate debated the health-insurance reform bill. When the legislation finally passed shortly after 10 p.m., Bell filed a detailed story.

The latest figures from the Audit Bureau of Circulations for Maine newspapers were released on May 9, and contrary to comments from some Maine publishers, they show continued sharp declines in the average number of papers sold.