Still your hometown newspaper every day

Early in my career I heard a story, and it goes like this:

A consultant was brought in to help a drill bit company. They made a great product, but they didn’t have the presence many other companies did.

The consultant spent time looking at the company, and when he had studied enough, he asked the owner to join him so he could share what he’d learned and what he would advise.

“Sir, your really not a drill bit company. That isn’t what your customers need from you.”

“Your customers need to make holes. You, sir, you sell holes.”

The owner considered this, and then asked for the consultant’s recommendation.

“In addition to bits, you should also sell any and all other ways to make holes.”

The company began selling water jets, lasers, steel punches and all sorts of other hole-making products, and they thrived.

For me, the moral of this story is that a business rarely gets to choose what it sells for very long. Customers ask, and if we’re smart, we deliver.

The Frontiersman is in the information business, not the paper business.

Today, Frontiersman readers enjoy a 16-page newspaper twice a week. It's full of community news, public notices, Sudoku, letters to the editor, columnists, calendar events and local business advertisements. This will not change. And the same wonderful group of professionals will continue to bring The Frontiersman to you.

This spring The Frontiersman will be adjusting a few resources, but not our mission.

In April, The Frontiersman will begin printing the paper on just Fridays, and, with the adjustment, will gain back a few pages to ensure we have the space needed to run all the content you want to see.

Many in the community may see this adjustment as a sign of the end of The Frontiersman when, in fact, it is really both a sign of the times and a smart move.

“Smart move?” Yes.

Our readers are no longer just getting their news from a printed page. They are gathering information through our website and mobile app, our email newsletters and our social media platforms. This means we have to also support those efforts as well, and we will.

As the balance of this year comes, The Frontiersman will break more news, but will do so more often online on our digital platforms. Digital news gets to you more quickly and in a way that is most convenient for you.

We’ll also be partnering with more content providers to bring you more topics. And we’re partnering with more of those who make news in the Mat-Su. For example, this year The Frontiersman is helping the Iditarod produce the 2026 race guide. We also will continue to bring the Mat-Su Health Foundation’s sponsored content highlighting non-profit groups serving the needs of the valley, and, as we have for years, we’ll help the Alaska State Fair produce its visitor’s guide.

The Frontiersman is one of the few publications in Alaska that still has its own printing press (you should come see it sometime!). As a matter of fact, we also print a number of other newspapers from around the state, including the state’s largest paper, Anchorage Daily News. This aspect of our business is hidden to most, but is a thriving aspect of what we do to stay successful.

So, while the paper will only come once each week, we’re making sure The Frontiersman is here all year long.

Listening to our readers, we think, is the smart thing to do and these changes deliver on what we’ve heard.

As we get closer to April, we’ll update you more on what we’re doing.

In the meantime, drop us a note if you have any questions, comments or concerns, and thank you for your continued support of your Frontiersman.