New website, National Headliner Award highlight week for Maine Monitor

May 14, 2023

“Unstoppable Ocean” project recognized as among the best environmental reporting in the U.S.

Aerial view of Camden Harbor showing how close a parking lot and public grass area is to the water.

One-and-a-half feet of sea level rise would put large swathes of Camden's harbor parking lot underwater during annual King Tides. A 2017 report by the Watershed School found that $16 million worth of Camden’s waterfront property, accounting for roughly $260,000 in annual property taxes, would be at risk with just a foot of sea level rise. Photo by Alex MacLean.

The past week was another one of momentum for The Maine Monitor, with the nonprofit newsroom launching a newly designed website that is more mobile friendly and environmental reporter Kate Cough earning a distinguished national award.

The overhaul of the website sports a much cleaner and lighter look with several user-friendly features thanks to a Sustainable Publishing Solutions grant from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.

If you’re part of the 67 percent of our readership visiting by a mobile device, chances are the first thing you noticed is that this page looks much better than the prior version of our site. Mobile responsiveness is quite the useful resource, and we’re thrilled to now support it.

It’s easier to search our site for particular stories — the tool will display stories you’re looking for as you type — and our site also now includes dark mode capabilities.

There are a few other changes, many subtle, scattered throughout the site — for one, at the beginning of each story you are now provided an estimated time it may take you to read the story — and we’ll continue to make tweaks in the months ahead to different aspects to improve your experience.

I’d love to hear your thoughts on the new website and how we can continue to improve the experience for you. Share your thoughts with me by email: george@themainemonitor.org.

Maine Monitor receives national accolade

Kate Cough’s “The Unstoppable Ocean” project, done in collaboration with aerial photographer Alex MacLean, received a third place accolade May 10 from the National Headliner Awards for environmental writing by a newsroom not in a top 20 media market. The Charlotte Observer won first place in the category and The Times-Picayune in New Orleans won second place.

Along Maine’s stunning coastline, vulnerable communities wrestle with the inevitable rise of the sea caused by the warming ocean.

Through the project, aerial photographer Alex MacLean and reporter Kate Cough found that each of the 10 profiled communities have a different strategy to prepare and adapt to the rising sea.

Founded in 1934 by the Press Club of Atlantic City, the National Headliner Awards program is one of the oldest and largest annual contests recognizing journalistic merit.

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George Harvey

George Harvey is the Multimedia Editor for The Maine Monitor. He oversees digital and newsletter production, coordinates social media content and shares the work of The Maine Monitor’s staff writers and contributors with media partners around the state. George previously worked in athletics administration, and earned a bachelor’s degree from Florida Atlantic University.