Alaska’s media landscape is undergoing some changes, as an influential political website has announced its shutting down. In a press release Thursday night, the board of Alaska Commons said they will end the operation after a five year run.
The news comes less than two weeks after the site’s managing editor, John Aronno, said in Facebook post he’d be retiring from the venture.
Alaska Commons would occasionally drive news on state and Anchorage politics, and received 34 awards from the Alaska Press Club over the years. Aronno said that in spite of gaining traction, the operation never found a way to make money, which was a part of why the board decided to shut the site down.
The closure comes not long after a shake-up at the Midnight Sun, a widely read blog that brings a conservative take to Alaska politics. The site’s main author, Casey Reynolds, left to take a job with the ACLU of Alaska. Midnight Sun does intend to keep producing content with a new staffer, according to Reynolds.
Zachariah Hughes reports on city & state politics, arts & culture, drugs, and military affairs in Anchorage and South Central Alaska.
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