The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner announced online that it has changed its nonprofit structure and governance. It has turned over its energy-wasteful, mainly unoccupied building—including a luxury penthouse—and all other assets to Fairbanks Public Media Inc.
Gee, is it that uncomplicated? Simply change a valuable property from one hand to another? What sort of paperwork was needed to make a deal the IRS would approve?
Hey wait! What does “public media” mean in this particular case? Is it simply a description of the nonprofit/public-service model?
This announcement should have addressed the term “public media” and differentiated it from familiar names such as Alaska Public Media and KUAC.
This would have been helpful to spell out: Public media is not synonymous with public broadcasting, nor does it necessarily mean government-funded media.
Here are some known specifics from a way too-brief statement appearing August 16 on the FDNM web site.
“The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner is now a member of the public media, which means that the 123-year-old community newspaper can be supported by public funds and will be overseen by a volunteer board of directors.”
OK, then, who appoints the new community board, and who can remove board members? And will there be an ethics policy written for the board members? How many board members are enough? Are they members for life, a year–who knows?
And another fair question: Is a board member someone expected to donate a certain sum? Or is it open to any and all members of the community regardless of their financial worth?
The reference to ‘public funds’ could confuse some readers.
For example, it does not mean the News-Miner will automatically be supported by taxpayers. It just means the nonprofit may be eligible to seek certain public grants and other charitable support.
Nor is it a news flash that the News-Miner is a non-profit. It’s been a nonprofit since 2016.
The statement added it “gained tax status as an autonomous public nonprofit under Internal Revenue Service 501(c)(3). Donations may now be made directly to the Daily News-Miner and are fully tax deductible.”
The statement could have–no, should have–been broadened and clarified.
Newspapers need to use language that is clear to the average subscriber.
What exactly does “an autonomous public nonprofit” mean? To me, and I’m a reader, the phrase sounds more like legal or organizational jargon than plain English. Give readers what they need to know,
More is needed for inquiring readers who read that statement. What is different about this new nonprofit structure from the Helen E. Snedden Foundation structure that preceded it?
More is needed about how and if this development changes operations–and if so, what operations?
Perhaps it may be helpful for the average reader to consider a little history.
The paper’s founding as a weekly under the name Fairbanks News goes back to 1903.
As the city grew, the paper expanded between 1904 and 1906. After acquiring The Miner News in 1909, the paper adopted its present name.
Back in December of 2015, the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner and the Kodiak Daily Mirror were sold to the Helen E. Snedden Foundation.
The Foundation’s name honored Helen Snedden, widow of former publisher C.W. Snedden,
The Sneddens owned and operated the newspaper in its heyday from 1950 to 1992. Editorial staffing was far more robust then and included a substantial number of editors, columnists, photographers and beat reporters.
Mrs. Snedden died in May 2012. I wonder how Mrs. Snedden might feel about this change if she were alive?
Perhaps the biggest question readers may have is how this affects editorial freedom.
For starters, will readers see any changes in public civic engagement and the press’s traditional watchdog function? Assurances would have been nice to include in that statement.
Another question I have is if the News-Miner will continue its six-day print edition or shift to a web-only paper as the Cordova Times did in 2026. All news outlets are scrambling to lure younger readers who don’t give print papers even a glance.
Does the publication intend to have a print paper in, say, six months or a year?
The print edition dropped its Saturday edition and announced a Sunday weekend edition on September 1, 2023.
The change was intended to cut costs of such expensive items as editorial and press staff time, newsprint and ink. The paper had lost a major source of income when Fred Meyer ceased advertising in 2023.
Structurally, the Snedden Foundation’s designated trustees will give way to a community public board.
Virginia Farmier remains the publisher, a role she assumed in May 2023. Is her role unchanged now? Or if changed, how so? Is there a change in how a fiscal year budget works? Who signs the checks, pray tell?
Could the new board decide to sell the building instead of renting out some rooms, leaving a whole floor heated and unused as was true after the previous publisher moved the staff to the first floor. As the press equipment ages, or if the FDNM goes 100% digital, could it stand a better chance of being solvent if the relatively small number of staffers shift to a strip mall locale?
The Fairbanks and Kodiak newspapers operate with leaner editorial staffing from the Snedden days of yore. The FDNM in December 2019 announced layoffs of four staffers, for example. Sadly, a McDonald’s shift manager can make more money per hour than a local sportswriter makes per hour. Will the board ensure that reporters and editors get a salary worthy of their talents??
The new status means that the paper could secure grant support from state, federal and private grant opportunities. That could include requesting moneys from organizations such as the pro-democracy Knight Foundation.
The 501(c)(3) status also means the News-Miner remains prohibited from endorsing or opposing political candidates. That isn’t a new restriction. It applied to the Snedden Foundation.
Sure the newspaper can cover candidates, campaigns and public-policy issues. The paper reeds to reassure readers about how it assures independence of that coverage with the as-yet unnamed board members.
No doubt readers closely will watch how editor Julie Stricker will address future coverage of political campaign and ballot initiatives in future elections.
Private and corporate donors should not have editorial control over news coverage. Not even the slightest nudging is appropriate.
It is doubtful if the shift to Fairbanks Daily News Media operations affects long-established Snedden Foundation charitable endowments. As I understand it, those were executed by Mrs. Snedden herself and tucked away in a separate endowment. Still, that’s yet another question in which some readers might have appreciated clarity and transparency.
In recent years, the FDNM sponsored a KUAC month and several Fairbanks Drama Association plays, etc. Will that support continue?
Finally, what problems did the Snedden Foundation structure encounter that this new community-board structure is designed to solve? That is one of many questions the News-Miner’s brief, too premature announcement currently leaves unanswered.
Otherwise, readers may wonder if this is merely a case of shuffling deck chairs on the Titanic.
And it’s incredibly important that Fairbanks keep its paper in Fairbanks.
And just as the 1952 Polaris building needed to be torn down, so must The White Elephant News-Miner energy waste machine.
I don’t want to read one day that this–ahem–“autonomous public nonprofit”–has been sold to a vulture hedge fund.
Community journalism is vital to every community. And many communities now either have lost their only news voice, or that voice is nothing more than a ghost paper.
Hank Nuwer is a former managing editor of the News-Miner and believes the newspaper is essential for democracy in these turbulent times. He lives in Fairbanks and a current Cordova Times columnist, and an adjunct professor of journalism at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. His opinions expressed here are entirely his own, however. The photo is by Gosia Nuwer.
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