The number of Alaska newspapers in the state has shrunk by more than one-third since 2000, and there are now fewer than 5,000 remaining, according to the Alaska Dispatch News.
The news outlet found that the number of newspaper delivery employees has been cut from 15,000 in 2000 to just 3,000 today, and that the city of Anchorage’s only newspaper is being closed.
Alaska Dispatch News/KJZZ via AP article “The Alaska newspapers have been the backbone of the community since the mid-1960s.
The Alaska Dispatch is the most successful newspaper in the country.
It’s still here, but it’s very, very different than the way it was in the past,” said Tim Smith, president of the Alaska Newspaper Guild.
The number of rural newspaper delivery workers has shrunk from about 25,000 to fewer than 3,500 in Alaska over the past three decades.
Alaska newspapers, the country’s third-largest, employ about 15,500 people in Alaska, according the Alaska Department of Labor and Industries.
The guild, which represents more than 30,000 Alaska newspaper workers, says it is concerned that some newspapers may close and its members may not get paid, which could impact the jobs they have to offer.
“We’re concerned that it may lead to layoffs of our members.
They’re the backbone,” Smith said.
Smith said that in the city, the city’s only daily newspaper is running out of space to hold its print edition.
“It’s like the last of the newspapers in town, but there’s no room for it,” he said.
“It’s a real problem,” said James Kuepper, who owns the Anchorage newspaper and a news station based in Anchorage.
In the past, he said, newspapers were run by the owners of the paper.
Now, he has to run out of paper to fill up the newspaper’s building.
Kuepper said that newspapers that are struggling financially may close.
“[The owners] are not able to pay the salaries that they’re making,” he explained.
On Thursday, the Alaska Legislature approved legislation that would extend some of the state’s income tax breaks for newspapers and other small businesses to help cover the costs of a shutdown.
State Rep. Jeff Lusch, R-Tukwila, said he was also concerned about the closure of the city newspaper.
He said that if the city were to close, it would affect jobs and paychecks for the city and its workers.
Lusch said the city is one of the last remaining newspapers in Anchorage, so any layoffs would hurt that community and the state.
Smith, the chairman of the local newspaper guild, said the guild is working to find an alternative for its members and to secure jobs for the employees of the newspaper, who are mostly young people.