The National Trust for Local News, a nonprofit that owns most of Maine’s daily newspapers, announced Monday that it has named a new chief executive officer.

Tom Wiley, the president and publisher of The Buffalo News, will take over leadership of the National Trust for Local News in May. Contributed photo

Tom Wiley, president and publisher of The Buffalo News, will take over leadership of the National Trust on May 12.

The nonprofit seeks to preserve local news coverage and has purchased newspapers in Georgia, Colorado and Maine, including the Portland Press Herald, the Sun Journal in Lewiston, Kennebec Journal in Augusta and Morning Sentinel in Waterville.

“Local news is a hard business, but it isn’t complicated,” Wiley said in a written statement. “Journalism that audiences value is our mission and our business model. I am excited to help our newsrooms produce even more great local journalism, and help our sellers and marketers build a strong business around it.”

The National Trust also announced a new board chair on Monday. Keith Mestrich has served on the board since October 2023 and was elected chair at its March meeting.

The leadership changes come as the National Trust is trying to forge a path toward sustainable local journalism in Maine and other states. Newspapers nationwide are struggling in the face of declining subscriptions and advertising in recent years.

The Maine Trust for Local News, the Maine subsidiary of the National Trust, announced last month that it would be eliminating or reducing print publication of its weekly newspapers, shifting to mail delivery for some daily newspapers and cutting 50 jobs — about 13% of the workforce — as part of cost-cutting and restructuring.

Wiley is the second CEO of the National Trust. He succeeds co-founder Elizabeth Hansen Shapiro, who resigned in January.

Wiley, 57, started his career in advertising at the Lansing State Journal in Michigan before moving on to leadership roles in sales, advertising and publishing at other news organizations, including the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, New Haven Register and the Wisconsin State Journal.

He has worked as president and publisher of The Buffalo News since 2020.

In an interview, Wiley said he will remain based in Buffalo but will be spending time in the newsrooms in Maine, Georgia and Colorado in the days after he starts on the job.

Some of his initial priorities include having good communication with the National Trust’s 450 employees and collecting data on its journalism and how it’s working. In the long run, he hopes to see the trust grow, although there aren’t immediate plans to add properties.

“If the right opportunity surfaced and it made sense in the moment, yes (we would acquire something) but we’re not standing around thinking, ‘Let’s go find something,'” Wiley said. “We’re going to focus on excellence in the footprint we have now. … It would have to be really right and a sensible, clear path to success.”

He’s also eager to meet potential donors and boost fundraising.

“Now is probably the best time in a long time to really invest in the trust,” Wiley said. “I would love to get out and spend some time with the type of organizations that can make those investments, because the runway that buys us is really an extraordinary help to the mission.”

The National Trust was launched in 2021 with the goal of preserving local newspapers and building a sustainable future for local news around the country.

The nonprofit organization is supported at the national level by foundational and philanthropic donations. Its three state subsidiaries, including the Maine Trust, operate under a more traditional newspaper business model that relies mostly on advertising and subscription revenue, with some state-level philanthropy.

Shapiro earned a salary of $370,000 as of 2023. Wiley and Mestrich declined to provide Wiley’s salary in an interview and said it would be made publicly available in tax filings.

Matt DeRienzo was an editor at the New Haven Register and other Connecticut papers while Wiley was publisher and recalled coverage of the Sandy Hook school shooting in 2012. He said he was impressed by Wiley’s support of the newsroom during a time of great stress.

“He was not hesitant whatsoever to spend the money we needed to spend to cover that topic,” DeRienzo said. “He has a respect and an eye for news and a great respect for journalistic integrity. He was willing to put up the money to not only cover it right, but to make sure the people who were covering it were taken care of.”

Stefanie Manning, managing director of the Maine Trust for Local News, said in a statement that she is excited to see Wiley join the National Trust.

“Strong national leadership is essential to sustaining local journalism at the state level, and we look forward to working together to ensure community news continues to thrive here in Maine,” Manning said.

Mestrich, the new board president, succeeds National Trust co-founder Marc Hand, who had served as chair since 2021. Mestrich lives in New Harbor and is a financial services executive and labor leader who previously served as the chief financial officer of the Service Employees International Union.

“I read the journalism of our Maine Trust for Local News every single day,” Mestrich said in a written statement. “Our work has an impact on my own life and I know what good local journalism means for our democracy. I am deeply honored to take on the role of chair.”