A new executive is assuming top management duties at MaineToday Media, Inc., the state's largest media organization, at a time of financial turmoil within the newspaper industry and amid efforts to sell the company.

Robert P. Bickler, who has been president and general manager of the Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram for five years, will become the new Blethen Maine president and chief executive officer, effective Thursday.

In addition to the Portland newspapers, Blethen Maine produces the Kennebec Journal in Augusta, the Morning Sentinel in Waterville, The Coastal Journal weekly in Bath, MaineToday.com and several other print and online publications.

Bickler succeeds Charles C. Cochrane, who will step down today after a 39-year career in newspapers, including 33 years with Blethen Maine's parent company, The Seattle Times Co. Bickler was named to the post by Frank Blethen, chairman of the board of The Seattle Times Co.

Cochrane, 62, said Tuesday that he will continue to oversee efforts to sell the newspapers to Maine Media Investment LLC, a group of local investors, but will no longer be involved in day-to-day operations.

That job will fall to Bickler, who said he will work closely with Cochrane on the sale. Maine Media is attempting to obtain financing for the deal and recently negotiated an extension of about 30 days on a purchase-and-sale agreement that had been set to expire today, according to the group's lead partner, Richard L. Connor.

Connor, a Bangor native with 40 years of experience owning and operating newspapers, is editor and publisher of the Times Leader newspaper in Wilkes-Barre, Pa. His partners are former Defense Secretary William S. Cohen; Robert Baldacci, a developer and brother of Gov. John E. Baldacci; and Michael Liberty, a former developer.

Connor has said that he's confident his partnership can obtain the financing needed to complete the purchase, under an agreement that was signed Nov. 11.

Bickler said Tuesday that he envisions no operational changes during the extension period, but noted that the company is obligated to make longer-range plans for running the company if the sale does not take place.

He said those plans likely would include layoffs, with the number of jobs cut depending on revenue. Bickler said he's hopeful that revenue will improve in 2009 if the credit markets stabilize and the economy responds favorably to a federal stimulus package.

"Journalism is what makes me tick," he said. "We do strive and will continue to strive to be one of the best newspapers and Web sites our size in the country."

Jeannine A. Guttman, editor and vice president of the Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram, said the newspapers have been "very fortunate to have a tested leader at the helm for the past 10 years, guiding us with a compass built on ethical values and journalistic principles."

"And we've very fortunate that that compass will be passed forward to a new leader, to a person who is extremely dedicated to newspapering -- be that in print or online -- and to the practice of independent journalism," she said.

Frank Blethen said Tuesday that he's confident the sale will go forward. He said he is looking for Bickler, 42, to maintain the leadership that Cochrane exemplified, while remaining focused on running the company within the revenue available to it.

"The papers that adjust are going to have a very good long-term future," Blethen said. "They're going to be smaller and more nimble, but I think all of that comes back to the good stewardship."

The Blethen family put its Maine media properties up for sale in March, citing financial pressure that is afflicting the entire newspaper industry, including The Seattle Times. Since then, the pressure has intensified, as advertisers migrate to the Internet and reduce spending in the face of a deepening recession.

Rick Edmonds, a business analyst at the Poynter Institute, a nonprofit journalism resource center, said media executives need to focus aggressively on cost-cutting and developing new revenue streams, while protecting the quality and value of their core newspaper products.

"In a way," he said, "that's the common playbook for the difficulty that newspapers face right now."

Edmonds said many newspapers remain profitable, but debt levels are forcing their owners to seek buyers at a time of uncertainty and tight credit.

Cochrane said he told the Blethen family two years ago that he planned to retire, well before the family decided to sell its Maine holdings. He described his departure as "bittersweet" because of circumstances in the industry.

The Maine newspapers have gone through three rounds of layoff this year, and Cochrane said he was dismayed by the business decisions he had to make.

"That's a rather tough way to leave, and not the way I would have scripted things," he said.

Cochrane said he hopes to be remembered for mentoring younger managers, including his successor.