According to documents filed with the Cumberland County Registry of Deeds and at Portland City Hall, MaineToday Media, the new owner of the Portland Press Herald, sold its Portland buildings and land to developers in July for $6.3 million — exactly the same amount it paid Blethen Maine Newspapers for the properties a month before.

Photo non-journalism: In the Sept. 6 Maine Sunday Telegram, Jim Keyser, described as the paper’s “copy desk chief” but heretofore best know to readers as its blogger on fantasy football, delved into the difficult issue of whether to publish a graphic war photo.

Another life for Port City Life: Maine magazine, a refurbishing of the defunct, Portland-centric Port City Life, is launching this month as a statewide publication that will appear on newsstands ten times a year.

The Association could be opening up: The Maine Press Association, long the exclusive domain of the state’s paid-circulation daily and weekly newspapers, will consider an amendment to its bylaws at its Oct. 17 fall meeting to allow free papers, freelancers, and even bloggers to become members. The association’s board of directors has already recommended the change, but it still must be approved by the full membership.

The laws that got missed: In the August 24 Portland Press Herald, staff writer Justin Ellis had a good column about a new state law that will limit the information that online marketers can collect from children.

Journalistic bomb: The Portland Press Herald’s coverage of the arrests of four people (one of whom has since been freed) in Portland for drug dealing and possession of pipe bombs may have set a single-story record for raising more questions than it answered.

Bob Who? The Portland Press Herald has failed its first ethics test since announcing last month that developer Robert C. S. Monks of Cape Elizabeth has become a major investor and board member of its parent company, MaineToday Media.

Sun shines: The Lewiston Sun Journal did something in its August 9 edition that’s all too rare in Maine journalism. It used the state’s Freedom of Access Act proactively.

The newspaper employed the law to get e-mails sent by Lewiston city councilors about recent disputes among themselves and with now-dismissed City Manager Jim Bennett.

Switch off: MaineToday Media’s free biweekly lifestyle publication The Maine Switch appears to have published its last issue, at least for now.

When it comes to reporting on the impact of cruise-ship visits on the Maine economy, most reporters and editors in the state have a tendency to believe whatever the so-called experts say – even when those experts have said something completely different in the past.