Once mothballed Bristol Bay, Dutch Harbor papers revived to become one

Two rural Alaska newspapers folded last year will be resurrected as one publication in a little more than a week, according to a written statement from an Alaska media company.  

The Bristol Bay Times and The Dutch Harbor Fisherman vanished late last summer after the parent company of Alaska Newspapers Inc., Calista Corp., announced it would stop publishing six weekly newspapers.

Jason Evans and his wife, Kiana Peacock, purchased three of the weekly newspapers in August. Their company, Alaska Media LLC, quickly began producing The Arctic Sounder serving mostly Inupiat readers in Alaska's arctic. Now the couple plans to publish the Bristol Bay and Dutch Harbor newspapers under one banner starting Feb. 2.

Dutch Harbor in the Aleutian Islands is hundreds of miles from the Bristol Bay region, where Dillingham is the hub community. But both areas share several interests, including their reliance on fishing.

“We are happy to bring these publications back to these important regions of our state,” said Evans in the written statement. Evans, who also is chairman of Sitnasuak Native Corp., played a key role in arranging the historic fuel delivery to Nome by the Russian ice-class tanker Renda.

While producing the Arctic Sounder, the couple has refined the process of running a rural newspaper in Alaska, the statement said. Now their news and advertising teams are ready to take on a second publication covering the Bristol Bay and Dutch Harbor regions. The company's editor, Carey Restino, said she's eager to learn more about issues facing the regions.

“There are so many interesting issues to consider in this area, from the fishing industry to Pebble to the many unique rural communities the paper covers. It’s going to be a steep learning curve but if my experience with the Arctic Sounder is any indication, it will be an exciting adventure," said Restino, who has covered Southcentral Alaska news for 15 years.

Restino said the new publication will be a community newspaper and she looks forward to working with people in the regions to find great stories and photos. The paper will rely on local submissions to round out coverage by reporters.

“We really depend on community involvement to make it work,” Restino said.