Lisa DeSisto, CEO and publisher of the Maine Trust for Local News, has resigned after 12 years at the helm of the state’s largest news organization.

Lisa DeSisto, CEO and publisher of the Maine Trust for Local News. Photo by Brian Fitzgerald

DeSisto led the Maine Trust – which includes four of Maine’s five daily newspapers – into the digital era, through two ownership transitions and two acquisitions. 

She will stay on until the end of the year. 

Stefanie Manning, a longtime executive with the Maine Trust, will step up into the leadership role and has assumed the position of managing director, the Trust said in a statement Tuesday.

DeSisto said in an interview that she has “charted our way through some challenging times,” and that after several changes in the last few years, a year-end departure felt “like a good clean break.”

Manning said she is honored to assume her new role and will focus on generating revenue to support the news operations.

Stefanie Manning, managing director of the Maine Trust for Local News. Contributed photo

The Trust’s statement called Manning a “dynamic leader and committed supporter of local culture.” 

Formerly a top advertising and digital executive at the Boston Globe, DeSisto was hired in 2012 to help expand digital services and revenue for what was then MaineToday Media, the parent company of the Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram, the Kennebec Journal in Augusta and the Morning Sentinel in Waterville. 

She managed the first digital transformation of Maine’s newspapers with the launch of digital subscriptions and the transition to digital-only Mondays.

“I have cherished my time leading this organization and working alongside such dedicated and talented colleagues,” DeSisto said in a statement. “Serving our readers and supporting this incredible team has been a privilege. Representing the Maine Trust for Local News in the community has been an honor I will carry with me.” 

DeSisto, 61, lives in North Yarmouth and is on the board of The Associated Press and the Portland Regional Chamber of Commerce. 

She spearheaded the organization’s bimonthly “Like a Boss” series, which features DeSisto interviewing other Maine CEOs on their leadership principles. 

Dan Kennedy, a professor of journalism at Northeastern University who closely follows media trends, said he was surprised by DeSisto’s departure.

“She has been kind of synonymous with the success of the Maine papers,” he said. “She has been a force for stability for a long time there.”

Three years into her tenure, financier S. Donald Sussman sold the company to businessman Reade Brower, who later added the Lewiston Sun Journal, The Times Record in Brunswick, the now-shuttered Biddeford Journal Tribune and a slew of weekly newspapers to the company portfolio. 

The National Trust for Local News, a nonprofit news organization, purchased the newspapers from Brower last year. The Maine Trust for Local News is its subsidiary. 

DeSisto said she feels a sense of accomplishment for her nearly 40-year career, though she noted that her departure is not a retirement. She plans to take some time before starting something new. 

She will miss the Maine Trust employees and interacting with subscribers, whether answering questions about home delivery placement or about a particular comic strip. 

Maine people value local news, she said, and it has helped sustain the company in tumultuous times. 

“While we’re owned by the nonprofit National Trust, we’re not immune to the challenges of our industry – aging readership and declining print advertising. It takes grit, resolve, and collaboration to continue to battle these headwinds – and the team has it,” she said in a memo to employees. 

She said she’s excited to see Manning “lead the team into the future.” 

Manning, of Cape Elizabeth, has worked at what is now the Maine Trust for Local News for more than 11 years. She was named chief of staff in September 2023 and tasked with providing strategic direction to the human resources team while leading company communication strategies. Before that, she served as vice president of consumer revenue and creative services. 

Prior to joining the Trust, Manning held senior roles at Oprah Magazine, Businessweek and The Washington Post’s Newsweek. She is also co-owner of the Miss Portland Diner and Portland’s Harvest on the Harbor food festival. 

“I’m excited and honored to take the baton from Lisa and begin this new leadership role at the Maine Trust,” Manning said in a statement. “Our vision is to reinvent our revenue model, reinvigorate our journalism, and reconnect with the communities we serve to become Maine’s indispensable source for local news.” 

In an interview, Manning said that as managing director, her role will be less public-facing than DeSisto’s has historically been.

“My strengths lie in the internal, so I’m going to be very focused on our business model and generating revenue for our company and managing us through inevitable transformation,” she said, adding that DeSisto “started the train down the tracks to our digital future,” and she plans to keep it going. 

Manning is the former president of the Press Herald Toy Fund, a trustee of the Portland Public Library and an outgoing board member of the Local Media Consortium. 

Maine Trust Board Chair Mark Stodder, who will help lead the transition period, said the leadership changes come at a time of transformation for the media groups.

“Lisa is leaving us with an invaluable legacy, and paired with Stefanie’s leadership and vision, we are well positioned to navigate the challenges ahead and continue our mission of protecting local journalism,” he said.