The parent company of a Boston alternative weekly newspaper, Dig Boston, has announced it is launching a similar newspaper in Portland as the city’s faltering stalwart, the Portland Phoenix, struggles to find a buyer.

“The timing is right,” Marc Shepard, the associate publisher of Dig Publishing LLC, said in a statement announcing the new publication, Dig Portland.

Dig Publishing announced its new venture just days after the owner of The Portland Phoenix said its proposed sale to one of its employees had fallen through.

Everett Finkelstein, chief operating officer of The Phoenix Media/Communications Group, said Tuesday that the Portland Phoenix’s parent company would now try to find another buyer or pursue other options, which he declined to specify.

The possibility of an employee or employees buying the Portland weekly surfaced last week, shortly after The Phoenix Media/Communications Group announced that it was closing the Providence Phoenix, which published its last issue Oct. 17. The company closed its flagship Boston Phoenix in March 2013, but said at the time that the Portland and Providence papers would continue to publish because they had lower costs.

Dig Publishing LLC owner Jeff Lawrence said in the statement that Dig Portland “will be 100% locally focused and operated, delivering alt-weekly news, arts, and entertainment coverage to a young demographic across print, digital, social media, email, and live event channels.”

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Lawrence said the company would announce a launch date for Dig Portland “in coming days, so stay tuned.”

Scott Dolan can be contacted at 791-6304 or at:

sdolan@pressherald.com

Twitter: @scottddolan


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