Dear reader,

I hope you had a peaceful and relaxing holiday. At the Press Herald, we enjoyed a little downtime after another remarkable year of news coverage.

We loved introducing you to a host of people you most likely would not have met, from the Cannell family, living out of a van at the Kennebunk rest stop, to Ana Hito, the social media influencer who dropped into Vinalhaven. You can review our most-read stories of 2022 at: pressherald.com/top2022.

We’re ready to take on the new year and continue publishing stories that matter to Maine.

We’re fortunate to have local ownership that understands the vital role newspapers and their websites play in looking out for our citizens. We’ve watched in disbelief as too many local newspapers across the country have drastically reduced newsroom resources at the peril of their communities.

Like every local business, we’ve had our share of challenges. Among the biggest challenges of 2022 were recruitment and retention of newspaper carriers in a tight labor market; management of increased costs for health insurance and newsprint; and trying to find the right approach for “return to office” with our positions ranging from reporter to press operator.

Even then, I can’t emphasize enough how fortunate we are. We’re also fortunate to live in a community that understands how important it is to support local journalism. In the last year, we’ve seen nonprofit news sources including Maine Public, the Maine Monitor and the Harpswell Anchor benefit from vital community support. In the coming year, we look forward to more collaboration with these respected media outlets.

And collaboration starts at home. Next Sunday, you’ll see a special project on the 25th anniversary of the 1998 ice storm produced by colleagues across our daily newspapers. We received hundreds of submissions from Mainers sharing their memories of that historic storm. We’ll share them in print, online and during a virtual event.

Local reporting is a labor-intensive undertaking. With the support from you, our loyal readers and local advertisers, we will continue to do strong work.

While our core motivation is holding people, institutions and government accountable, we also thrive on uplifting our readers with work that is beautiful, surprising and wonderful.

Take our showcase today of the best photos of 2022, annotated by the very talented staff photographers behind the photos. It’s also online at pressherald.com/2022-POY.

Our staff, 400 strong across the five dailies and 17 weeklies that make up our family of media properties, are motivated to continue to do great work and serve the communities in which we live. It’s our privilege to have you as our readers.

The start of the new year is also a great to time hear from you. We welcome any feedback you have on our work, our home delivery service, our website and apps or anything else on your mind.

What can we do better to make certain you’ll continue to support us in the years to come? Give me a call at 791-6630 or drop me an email at lisa@masthead.me.

A happy, healthy and prosperous new year to all of you and all of Maine.