Local Newspaper Chain in Alaska Deep-Freezed

Image via WikipediaThe toxic combination of low revenues and high distribution costs has led the Calista Corp. to pull the plug in August on its subsidiary Alaska Newspapers Inc. ("ANI"), The Alaska Dispatch reports.

ANI publications include The Arctic Sounder, The Bristol Bay Times, Tundra Drums, The Seward Phoenix LOG, The Cordova Times, The Dutch Harbor Fisherman and a statewide magazine, First Alaskans. Calista's loss of patience with ANI's unprofitability means Alaska will no longer have a locally owned newspaper chain. The Anchorage Daily News, the state's largest newspaper, is owned by the McClatchy Co. chain and The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner is part of the Denver-based MediaNews Group.

Talk about a chilling effect on the news...

Palin Part II: 'You've Got Mail...'

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Former GOP vice-presidential nominee and Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's practice of  favoring her personal Email account over her government Email address has sparked a debate in the state nicknamed "Seward's Folly" concerning whether state employees' personal Emails should be treated as public records.

During her abbreviated tenure as Alaska's Governor, Palin instructed family members, advisors, and her Chief of Staff to Email her at gov.sarah@yahoo.com, instead of at governor@gov.state.ak.us because "everyone and their mother will be able to read Emails that arrive via that state address." Gawker published a number of Gov. Palin's missives from her private account after a college student hacked into her Yahoo address.

Emails from government accounts must be preserved under state records retention laws, which, according to a story in The Alaska Dispatch (http://www.alaskadispatch.com/dispatches/politics/3484-palin-personal-emails) has prompted a public records request for the release of Palin's Yahoo Emails to determine if government business was being carried out in her private account.

Look for the legislature and the courts in the "Land of the Midnight Sun" to weigh in on this topic.  For now, it is unresolved whether Alaskans will be able to say: "I can see Sarah Palin's Emails from my house!"