Veteran Alaska newsman joins Frontiersman staff

MAT-SU — A new addition to the Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman’s editorial staff is a familiar name for many who follow local happenings.

T.C. Mitchell has spent more than 20 of his 31 years as a journalist in Alaska, including a stint as managing editor for the Frontiersman and Valley Sun in the early- to mid-1980s. He spent the last 19 years of his career at the Anchorage Daily News as first a copy editor, then assistant features editor.

A Valley resident, Mitchell said returning to the Frontiersman following more than two decades of growth and change is a welcome fresh start.

“It’s not déja vu all over again, that’s for sure,” Mitchell said. “I first arrived at the Frontiersman in 1982 and left in 1986. Obviously, the newspaper and the Valley has changed substantially from that time.”

Now the fastest growing area of the state and a bedroom community for Anchorage, the Mat-Su Valley has come a long way since then, Mitchell said.

“I avoided the Palmer-Wasilla ‘Highway’ at that time because it was a washboard dirt road when it was dry and a 10-mile mudhole when it was wet,” he said. “My first assignment, as I recall, was covering a horseback ride up near Buffalo Mine Road. I was watching my step because I have a fear of being bitten by rattlesnakes and laughed at myself after remembering there are no snakes in Southcentral. I quit laughing when I remembered there are bears.”

As news editor, Mitchell will help manage the newsroom, coach reporters, edit stories and oversee the newspaper’s lifestyles coverage. He also will write and oversee some of the operation’s special projects, said Greg Johnson, managing editor.

“I’m excited to have T.C. here,” Johnson said. “His experience and institutional knowledge of Alaska issues and the Mat-Su Valley will be invaluable. He’s a respected journalist in the state and is a great addition to our talented editorial staff.”

Although the Valley and Frontiersman have grown and changed over the years, Mitchell said his focus on covering the Valley’s communities remains the same. “Moving into a new place has its challenges, but the same goal is here now as it was in the ’80s — good journalism prevails.”

Contact T.C. Mitchell at valleylife@frontiersman.com or 352-2269.