Six weekly newspapers serving rural Alaska communities from Dutch Harbor to Barrow will shut down, after their parent company voted to liquidate them.
Alaska Newspapers, Inc., which publishes the (Bethel) Tundra Times, (Barrow) Arctic Sounder, (Dillingham) Bristol Bay Times, Cordova Times, Dutch Harbor Fisherman and Seward Phoenix Log, will close in August.
All of the six weekly newspapers will print their final issues then.
Alaska Newspapers, Inc.’s parent company Calista Corporation made the announcement in a press release late Friday afternoon.
“With the increasing costs of fuel, paper, and print technology, Calista has found the subsidiary is not supportive of the company’s long-term financial interests,” the company said in a statement.
The award-winning First Alaskans magazine and Camai Printing in Anchorage, also owned by Alaska Newspapers Inc., will close as well.
Together, the newspapers cover more than 1,500 air miles of news.
Calista Corporation is the second largest of the original 13 Alaska Native corporations. Its other subsidiaries include aerospace, technology, construction, engineering, telecommunications and other business holdings.
