Daily News Miner Protest

Commentary

Fairbanks Daily News-Miner Demonstration
Large crowd supports fired writers and other employees

Filed April 19, 2002

By JOHN CREED

The plaque that hangs on the wall of the entrance to the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner office.

On April 12, Fairbanks Daily News Miner managing editor Kelly Bostian stood in front of his newspaper's offices pretending to be a cool and detached journalist, in control and unbothered. An estimated 125 or more demonstrators, many with signs blasting the paper, were protesting the News-Miner's recent firings of some obviously appreciated social and political commentators.

Three or even four columnists got the axe, but the demonstration focused mainly on writers Dan O'Neill and Gary Moore.

"Kelly Bostian has no backbone," said Pat Walsh, who attended the rally and is owner/operator of VanGo, a local tourism business. "He won't admit he made a mistake," she added.

Editor Keeps Changing Reasons

Mr Bostian has a hard time with the facts about why he fired these writers in what some locals are calling "the Easter Massacre."

Indeed, one of Bostian's reasons appeared in the article in the Anchorage Daily News that scooped the News-Miner's announcement of its own editorial housecleaning: "Bostian said the idea of paid local columnists--they get $50 an article--arose when the News-Miner was flush with money during the pipeline construction booms of the 1970s."

(Incidentally, Bostian reportedly didn't think the firings was "a story" and expected "professional courtesy" from other media not to cover the story. Wonder if he still thought it wasn't a story when 125 people showed up to protest the firings on April 12.)

Conglomerate Takeover of Interior Alaska

Of course, the News-Miner is part of a corporate giant called MediaNews Group, Inc. To "cry poverty" over 50 bucks a column is so preposterous that the paper quickly dropped that explanation as Alaskans collectively rolled their eyes.

MediaNews Group, Inc., the country's seventh largest newspaper chain, operates 46 dailies in 10 states in California, the Rocky Mountains, the Northeast and Alaska. The conglomerate's mission statement declares that the corporation "proactively" moves into media markets with the goal to dominate them, "starting with the local newspaper" and "continually expanding and leveraging our news-gathering resources."

$7.5 Million to Take Over Channel 11

According to a front page News-Miner story on Oct. 10, 2001, the News-Miner and its parent company have a $7.5 million option to buy Channel 11. This explains the cozy relationship over the past year or so between the News-Miner and Channel 11, the Interior's dominant television station.

Rather than compete in "free market" America, the corporate strategy now is simply to buy out the competition, with the enthusiastic blessings of the Federal Communications Commission.

Michael Powell, son of Secretary of State Powell and the Bush administration's pick to head the FCC, favors relaxing anti-trust regulations that now prohibit corporate mergers of newspapers, radio stations, and television stations serving the same market, according to press reports. In fact, here is information from the News-Miner parent company's own corporate website:

"In anticipation of changes in regulations governing the ownership of newspapers, radio and television, we have acquired a television station, a CBS affiliate in Anchorage and also operate radio stations in Alaska and Texas."

MediaNews Group, Inc.'s takeover of Channel 11 could just be one of many buyouts and mergers of print and broadcast media down the road in Alaska.

But We Digress

Back to the News-Miner protest. Even the News-Miner's publisher, Marilyn Romano, quickly backed off from Bostian's "we're too poor to pay" whopper as she told her own paper's reporter that the columnist firings were "not about money."

People at the rally even offered to pay the columnists themselves, some indicating they'd offer hefty raises if O'Neill could remain a regular columnist.

"Bostian said it wasn't the money," Walsh said. "He couldn't even stick to the same reasons for firing the columnists. All his reasons kept changing."

Reasons Ring Hollow

Here's the crux of the issue: The only daily newspaper in northern Alaska is ignoring the sentiment of the local community. The News-Miner is diminishing the status of its regular progressive voices while claiming to broaden its diversity.

When the public gets fed such phony logic, people can only conclude that the News-Miner just doesn't want these voices appearing on its pages, or at least wants more control over them. All this leads only to one conclusion: censorship, a fine tradition at the News-Miner stretching back many years.

For the record, here's another Bostian "reason": The public is confused between regular columnists and guest opinions.

Besides insulting the public's intelligence, that would be easy to fix. Educate readers who don't realize these columnists are expressing their own opinion and not that of the News-Miner. Include an extra sentence in the columnists' tagline, such as, "These views are those of the writer only and do not necessarily reflect those of the News-Miner."

We Are Left With Speculation

Dan O'Neill exposed a plan for the University of Alaska to launch up to 20 Scud missiles into the Brooks Range. Did O'Neill ruffle the feathers of defense contractors on the eve of military construction at Delta Junction and Fort Greely and at the University of Alaska worth millions of dollars to local businesses?

Who's Calling the Shots?

Bostian claims he alone made the decision to fire the columnists and that upper management, including the paper's parent company, a Lower 48 media conglomerate, had no role in the decision.

He's also said the publisher, Romano, had nothing to do with the decision. He's also said it was the News-Miner editorial board's decision, not just his, but Romano sits on the editorial board. Bostian is apparently not worried that a lack of consistency erodes credibility.

Word from the News-Miner newsroom these days is that many reporters, copy editors and photographers oppose the firing of these columnist. Indeed, overall newsroom morale is reportedly "at an all-time low," what with the News-Miner's shamelessly low wages for journalists, many of whom hold four-year degrees. In addition, as workers quit in frustration, move on, or get laid off, the remaining journalists' workload reportedly keeps increasing.

Not surprisingly, the News-Miner is reportedly refusing to run any "Community Perspectives" commentaries on the columnist firings. The paper as of this writing also had not loaded onto its website the bulk of its massive number of letters to the editor on the columnist firings.

News-Miner Coverage

The News-Miner's coverage of its own protest is a great example of how a newspaper tilts stories by emphasizing some points and ignoring others. For example, notice the de-emphasis on these guys getting "fired" because Bostian is pushing the idea that he didn't fire these folks, he just changed their status.

In other words, they were doing such a great job and were such highly valued commentators, Bostian demoted them. Also, they're just "free lancers," not employees. "There's a big difference," says Romano, as if to say, hey, we're being kind to be dealing with these people at all, and we don't have to deal with them if we don't want.

Rudeness to local columnists the News-Miner prefers not to run did not start just recently. For example, for years the News-Miner used to run the late Celia Hunter, a nationally-known and respected conservationist, buried in the paper's grocery ads. At the same time it featured syndicated columns by the arch-conservative John Birch Society prominently and regularly on the editorial page. After Hunter's death late last year, the paper probably figured that cleared the way to go after O'Neill & Co.

Doonesbury: Where Art Thou, Doonesbury?

Kent Sturgis, a former managing editor, reportedly had the Doonesbury strip mailed to his house to avoid the embarrassment (or "unauthorized circulation") of a censored comic strip arriving regularly into the News-Miner's newsroom.

When one reader asked in the 1980s why the paper didn't run Doonesbury, Sturgis reportedly replied, "It would be moving too far too fast."

Print Coverage

After the Anchorage Daily News broke the firings story on March 31, the Associated Press refused to pick it up. Even the News-Miner couldn't run an AP version of the story about its own organization. In addition, the electronic media in Fairbanks had nothing to use from the AP either because the AP did not distribute the Daily News story, not to mention not sending the story to print and broadcast media in the rest of Alaska.

In fact, the Associated Press apparently didn't even pick up the News-Miner's own story of the April 12 protest. By 5:30 on April 13, a full day after the protest and after the News-Miner had been out all day, the Anchorage Daily News city editor said that the News-Miner protest story hadn't come over the AP wire.

Some Fairbanks area residents found it odd that the AP would block a story that has obvious statewide interest.

"When free speech issues are raised, particularly now when dissent is considered unpatriotic, it is incumbent upon the Associated Press at least to acknowledge that this thing happened," said Douglas Yates, a News-Miner protest organizer.

Firings Affect Rural Alaska

The News-Miner columnist firings will most assuredly affect rural Alaska because O'Neill and Moore covered many rural and Alaska Native issues. Also, the News-Miner is a notoriously timid newspaper when it comes to digging into local, rural, and particularly Native issues. The News-Miner covers almost so many issues either superficially or not at all.

"A lot of issues important to rural Alaska and Natives are not covered by the News-Miner," Moore told KUAC-FM in Fairbanks in a recent interview. "Investigative reporting is not done at the News-Miner, or not that I'm aware of, and I think that's partly the niche that Dan and I filled."

But Bostian strongly objects to the "investigative" characterization of O'Neill's and Moore's work.

"I have a real problem calling it investigative journalism," Bostian said.

"Is it a true investigative journalist if they're turning up on the opinion page?" Bostian asked in a KUAC-FM interview.

Bostian apparently has never heard of Jack Anderson or William Safire, two of the most famous journalists in America and well-known for breaking major stories in their columns, located prominently on the opinion pages of their own newspapers and syndicated across the country.

Many people have a problem with the News-Miner forcing O'Neill to squeeze all he has gathered on, say, the Scud missile story, into a 750-word column after spending weeks researching it.

Bostian readily admits the News-Miner does little or no investigative reporting but won't budge to reinstate an inexpensive, experienced writer like O'Neill, who does investigate issues extensively. It's just too easy to conclude here that Bostian and the News-Miner don't want any investigative journalists serving the local community, only "drive-by journalism" shooting puffballs of pabulum.

Slap in the Face

It doesn't take a wild-eyed conspiracy theorist to believe the News-Miner wants to retain the power to censor these, and other, writers. The News-Miner says the fired columnists can come back, but not with the same status, which is a slap in the face in itself to this level of talent and experience.

Losing columnist status means that whenever News-Miner editors feel uncomfortable about something a former regular columnist such as O'Neill has written, they can nix it, saying, "Sorry, we don't have the space right now, because we have so many other guest opinions in the hopper. But do keep submitting articles."

That's the crux of the issue. They already do that with guest opinion writers by stalling about a decision to publish, requesting the writer conduct more "research" to "answer some questions," and so forth. Now they want that option for O'Neill and Moore.

For example, O'Neill told "the rest of the story" last year about William R. Wood after the News-Miner refused to write a balanced account of the life of this community booster but controversial former president of the University of Alaska and enemy of academic freedom.

The Wood administration left a record of firing professors based on their opinions or whether they projected the right "image" for the university. A legislative bid to rename Fairbanks International Airport after Wood right after he died failed due to stiff opposition from UA faculty statewide, Native leaders, aviation groups, and others.

Obligation to the People

The News-Miner has a right to make a profit, but it also has community responsibilities, including responding to community sentiment. The News-Miner "enjoys special protection under the U.S. Constitution's First Amendment," which guarantees freedom of the press, O'Neill said, but the paper must ensure that its news/editorial product "enables us to participate as citizens in our democracy. They owe the people that for the protections the people have given them" in the First Amendment.

In any event, local media came out in force to cover the News-Miner protest.

"We had fabulous media coverage by local television," said Sean McGuire, owner and operator of the Cloudberry Lookout Bed and Breakfast outside Fairbanks.

"Even the News-Miner covered (the demonstration)," he said. "Their article was tilted in favor of the News-Miner, of course. But I don't think this could have been better. It was a shock, even for me, that so many people showed up.

"Even Kelly Bostian admitted that he was amazed at the turnout," McGuire added. "The News-Miner's not backing down, but we are not going to let this issue die."

John Creed is a journalism professor at Chukchi Campus, a Kotzebue branch of the University of Alaska Fairbanks.

If you are intrigued by these insider details and News-Minus anecdotes, read Professor Creed's longer version of this commentary.

"Paper fires controversial columnists,"
Richard Mauer,
Anchorage Daily News
March 30, 2002

"A change for the better,"
FDNM managing editor Kelly Bostian
March 31, 2002.

"News-Miner writes off columnists,"
By GARY MOORE
March 31, 2002

"Protesters voice support for columnists,"
By Nancy Tarnai
April 13, 2002

Ex-columnist Dan O'Neill's columns on missile defense and related activites.

Letters to the editor

View from the ArcticCam, morning of the demonstration.

Paper fires controversial columnists
NEWS-MINER: Articles exposed missile test plan, criticized Native groups.

By Richard Mauer
Anchorage Daily News

(Published: March 30, 2002)

Two independent critics of some of the Interior's most important institutions have
been fired from their regular editorial-page columns in the Fairbanks News-Miner.

Author Dan O'Neill, whose recent columns exposed a secret plan to test Scud
missiles at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, and Gary Moore, an Alaska Native who
frequently criticized the largest Native organizations in Fairbanks, say the
News-Miner is tired of the discomfort they caused among the local elite.

"It's hard to believe the News-Miner is aiming to become even more tepid, but that's
what's happening," O'Neill said Friday.

Not so, said Kelly Bostian, the paper's managing editor, who told the writers by mail
that they were being dropped two weeks ago and plans to announce the changes to
readers on Sunday. Rather, Bostian said, the paper has made a policy decision to no
longer have regular, paid columnists from the community, and O'Neill and Moore
happened to be the two main writers who fit that description.

In their place, Bostian is creating a regular feature called "Community Perspectives,"
where anyone with a point of view and the ability to communicate will be invited to
submit an opinion piece. Bostian said that O'Neill and Moore would have as much
access to that section as anyone else, but acknowledged that their stature as
regular commentators would be diminished.

Both writers said they wouldn't continue, and University of Alaska Fairbanks assistant journalism professor Brian
O'Donoghue, a former News-Miner reporter and editorial-page editor, said he understands why.

"There's a special role of a regular columnist," O'Donoghue said. "It's a familiar voice looking at the issues of the
day from a perspective that a reader comes to understand. With guest opinions, you get a narrow focus that's
advocacy driven, like the head of the local right-to-life group who wants to comment on Roe v. Wade. It's
important to find room for both."

O'Donoghue said the News-Miner decision "was a real loss for Interior readers."

O'Neill is a former University of Alaska researcher whose 1994 book "The Firecracker Boys" exposed the complicity
of Alaska scientists and officials in a bizarre, 1950s-era Atomic Energy Commission plan to detonate a series of
nuclear explosions at Point Hope. The experiment, halted in its preliminary stages, was designed to test the
feasibility of using nuclear explosives to replace the Panama and Suez canals.

Moore runs a management and marketing consulting firm whose clients include Native villages. He was employed
for 12 years by the Tanana Chiefs Council of Fairbanks and has run unsuccessfully for president of the
organization, which, as the recipient of millions of dollars in grants for Interior Natives, has frequently been a
target of his column, along with the regional Native corporation, Doyon Ltd.

"I'm doing something the regular reporters can't," said Moore, who described himself as a conservative. "With the
(non-Native) reporters, they can cry discrimination, but being a Native who's a columnist, digging into these
issues, they can't say that."

Harold "Buddy" Brown, newly elected president of Tanana Chiefs and the organization's former counsel, said, "I was
familiar with some of the reactions with his columns when they were TCC-specific -- it was quite negative."

John Creed, a University of Alaska journalism professor at the Kotzebue campus and a former News-Miner reporter,
said he's surprised the newspaper would get rid of Moore.

"It's very difficult for a Native person to criticize their own community," Creed said. "In a case like Mr. Moore, I
would think the News-Miner would bend over backwards to accommodate him, yet they're eschewing an
opportunity that's really making a difference in local journalism."

O'Neill started out about four years ago writing every other Thursday. His column has become less regular, but
appears at least once a month, he said. He has recently criticized the Fairbanks campus of the University of
Alaska -- in particular, the popular Geophysical Institute -- for engaging in classified research and participating in
weapons testing. He was leaked a draft environmental assessment from the military that showed that a UAF plan
to test two liquid-fueled rockets in April was actually part of a five-year Army program to fire up to 20 missiles
that were identical to Russian Scud Bs. The program was canceled by the Pentagon in January.

"Dan got some good information and made it available," said Paul Reichardt, the UAF provost.

Prof. Norm Swazo, the UAF Faculty Senate president, said O'Neill's columns played a significant role in a proposal
to restrict classified research on campus that will be heard by the senate in May.

Bostian, the managing editor, said in his letters to Moore and O'Neill that he thought the changes would make for a
better newspaper with a greater variety of voices. As it was, some readers confused the columnists' opinions with
those of the newspaper, he said.

In an interview, Bostian said the idea of paid local columnists -- they get $50 an article -- arose when the
News-Miner was flush with money during the pipeline construction boom of the 1970s. In recent years, the paper
has had a stable of about a half-dozen columnists. But the deaths in 2001 of former University of Alaska president
William R. Wood, a big Fairbanks booster, and Celia Hunter, a tough, dedicated environmentalist, along with the
sharply reduced output from David Kellyhouse, a former Fish and Game official and sport-hunting advocate, and
UAF Russian professor Yelena Matusevich, left just two regular columnists, Bostian said.

"So I'm looking, what do I do with this page and the opinions thereon? It was, either we're going to have to start
doing it right and recruit a stable of columnists that's a diverse group, or don't do it." Finding a variety of people
capable of producing biweekly columns who'd work for $50 a pop seemed like an insurmountable task, Bostian said.

"I think Dan and Gary think I have a problem with them politically, but I don't," Bostian said. Instead, it is an
opportunity to remake the opinion pages, he said.

Sean McGuire, a Fairbanks environmental activist, said the affair reminded him of some journalism history dating
back to 1864.

"It's like when the San Francisco Call Bulletin fired Mark Twain, that's what it reminds me of," McGuire said. "Dan is
pretty much the best writer at the News-Miner and he has a tremendously loyal following. There's a whole group
of us up here that's going to fight this."

Copyright © 2002 The Anchorage Daily News (www.adn.com)

Article Last Updated:
Sunday, March 31, 2002 - 4:59:21 AM MST

A change for the better
By Kelly Bostian

Go to your keyboards and get ready to write, folks. A new column format is coming to life on this page and we will be actively seeking your educated opinions.

The new column format is called Community Perspective and it is a 750-word opportunity for anyone with some special insight into any of the issues that touch our community to educate readers. It will work similar to the way we have been doing "guest opinion" columns.

We're not just looking for 750-word letters to the editor. These should be well-researched, well-informed items or items coming from a perspective that is particularly close to an issue.

As blessed as our community is with a full and active letters to the editor column, we know there are more perspectives out there that are not always well represented. There are issues raised in letters to the editor that could be more fully discussed.

We are hopeful readers will fill our mailboxes with column submissions, but don't be surprised if you write a letter to the editor and get a call from us asking to write a little more. We also might solicit items from sources referenced in news stories.

The idea is to pack our Opinion page with as much local opinion as we can. Sure, we'll still print national columnists and editorials from other papers to keep some of the world and national perspectives our readers ask for, but local opinion is the name of our game.

The down side of this format change is that we will no longer attempt to foster a spectrum of opinion on the page by recruiting paid columnists.

That strategy has brought a wealth of information in the past and provided local personalities readers could connect with, but even when we had a full stable of regular contributing columnists, we wished for broader representation.

We approached people we thought had the knowledge and talent to regularly inform and educate readers, though often with little success. Writing a regular opinion column can be hard work, and the pay a small paper can offer is not significant.

In the past year or so we have been saddened by the loss of columnists Dr. William Wood and Celia Hunter. Columnist Fred Pratt moved out of state. We moved Judith Klienfeld's column to Heartland magazine, where we felt it was a better fit. David Kelleyhouse moved out of town and became an infrequent contributor.

Only three semi-regular columnists remained. Dan O'Neill offers a column or two a month and Gary Moore was fairly regular with two a month. Yelena Matusevich was absent a few months this winter but recently returned with infrequent submissions.

It hurts to let go of O'Neill, Moore and Matusevich as regulars. I thank them profusely for their work of the past and humbly request that they continue to lend their voices to the page. So far the feedback I have received from them is understandably unhappy, and I can only express my apologies for this decision as I felt it was the best new direction for the page as a community forum.

The fact is, it was just time to review what we were trying to accomplish with the page. Recruiting a new and diverse cadre of talented columnists who could contribute regularly was not in the stars. Some sudden windfall of cash to make the prospect more tempting for free-lance writers also wasn't in the cards.

In a mental list of pros and cons I found a number of cons that I had let slide because I liked the local columns--not the least of which were a lack of diversity, and reader and source confusion about these columnists' true relationship to the paper.

Guest opinions had pluses all around and few cons.

So we asked ourselves if we really had done all we could to tap the diverse and undoubtedly vast pool of writers in this community who would likely savor the opportunity to be heard.

Our guest opinion slot evolved of community demand, and I've always liked that. We listened to a demand and found a way to make it work. That's what a community newspaper should do. Now we're just taking that a step further, promoting what we now will call Community Perspective and eliminating the few semi-regular paid slots to create a level playing field and put all would-be opinion writers at the same starting line.

Let us hear from you.

Kelly Bostian is the News-Miner's managing editor.

Article Last Updated:
Sunday, March 31, 2002
News-Miner writes off columnists
By GARY MOORE

I thought the letter I received from News-Miner Managing Editor Kelly Bostian last
week must be an April Fools' Day joke, but as it turns out it is not. On April 1, the
News-Miner is officially pulling the plug on free-lance columnists who contribute
regularly to the Opinion page and are paid a token fee for their work.

In a March 15 letter to columnists, Bostian said the News-Miner is creating a new
Opinion page format titled "Community Perspective," in which all non-staff opinion
pieces will be labeled as "guest" opinions and will be unpaid. In the letter, Bostian
defended his decision, saying, "few readers I've spoken with understand the
difference between guest and paid opinion columns." He added, "worse, some
sources confuse your standing and think the newspaper is assigning you to put your
spin on certain issues in a way that we would like to see them addressed."

Could the "sources" Bostian is referring to be the heads of government agencies or
other publicly-funded businesses whose decisions were scrutinized in my columns or
others? In speaking only for myself, I have no doubt that many issues I covered made
life uncomfortable for some heads of powerful organizations. However, their
discomfort was likely due to being unaccustomed to accountability and preferring to
continue operating out of public view and scrutiny.

Additionally, having to edit and/or approve publication of such controversial columns
probably did not make Bostian's job easier. However, should I have written fluff pieces
praising local leaders' decisions or as a columnist should I always seek to provide
alternative viewpoints and analysis of the pros and cons of issues that affect everyday
people? I chose the latter.

Furthermore, the issues I covered were those not sufficiently addressed by
News-Miner reporters. Some examples of stories I wrote were: Disparity of justice in
the Hartman case, tribal conflicts in Circle, Al Ketzler Jr.'s paid administrative leave
from Tanana Chiefs Conference, recovery of a University of Alaska Fairbanks
scholarship for Miss WEIO and the eviction of tribal members from publicly funded
Indian housing. Most of these topics were ignored by News-Miner editors and
reporters and would not have seen the light of day had I not wrote them. Best of all,
once brought to the public's attention, many resulted in positive outcomes.

Frankly, I am surprised that there is confusion between "regular" and "guest"
columns since the tagline at the end of all articles clearly provides information about
who written the piece. If that doesn't suffice, how about adding a sentence to all
opinion articles stating, "Opinions expressed here do not necessarily reflect that of
the News-Miner's owners, advertisers or staff"? Wouldn't that be better than rushing
to a position which basically says, "off with those regular columnists' heads!"

If anything, regular columnists contribute substantially to the News-Miner and its
subscribers by filling an unmet niche. They perform some of the best and, in most
cases, only investigative journalism done at the News-Miner. "Guest" opinion writers
on the other hand mostly sound off one time about an issue in which they have a
personal stake.

If Bostian is concerned about shortages of regular columnists with diverse opinions,
then why not recruit others? The News-Miner lost four columnists, Fred Pratt, David
Kellyhouse, William Wood and Celia Hunter, in the last year, but hasn't made it a
priority to replace them, from what I can tell.

In the closing remarks of his letter, Bostian states, "I am hopeful that you will
continue to submit your labors of love, only now as a guest opinion writer ..." On the
surface, his words may appear sympathetic and reassuring that nothing has really
changed by re-formatting the Opinion page. However, I know better.

After April 1, if any former columnist submits an article for publication that doesn't sit
well with Bostian, he can simply reply, "I'm sorry, but we are backed up with guest
opinions and we won't be able to use yours." In actuality, I believe altering the
Opinion page format accomplishes nothing other than placing Bostian in a more
comfortable position to reject opinion pieces he believes too controversial, those not
compatible with his personal political views or those which oppose or offend
advertisers or individuals occupying powerful positions in the community.

When I began writing for the News-Miner Opinion page, I thought it lived up to its
motto, "Independent in all things, ... Neutral in none." However, Bostian's actions to
eliminate regular columnists goes against everything that motto stands for ... in my
opinion.

Gary Moore is a free-lance political columnist who wrote regularly for the
News-Miner on Alaska Native and rural issues.

Protesters voice support for columnists

By NANCY TARNAI, Staff Writer
April 13, 2002

Dan O'Neill seemed embarrassed by all the attention he received on an abnormally chilly morning Friday in downtown Fairbanks.

The former Fairbanks Daily News-Miner columnist, surrounded by over 100 protesters in front of the newspaper's offices, said he was overwhelmed by the number of people waving signs and calling for the paper to reinstate him and Gary Moore as paid writers on the editorial page.

O'Neill expressed hope that News-Miner editors would be influenced by the protest.

"It doesn't matter why they did it," he said. "I hope they are big enough to respond to the thoughtful sentiment and keep the editorial page open to a full range of views."

Moore echoed that hope and said he was surprised at the turnout.

"It's more than the support of Dan and me," he said. "It's a freedom of speech issue. The News-Miner is wrong to censor. Diverse opinions are good for the country and good for Alaska."

News-Miner Managing Editor Kelly Bostian, who met with some of the protesters, said that bringing the columnists back in a paid format would be giving in to the same type of pressure that some protesters have accused the paper of succumbing to in the first place.

He said O'Neill and Moore are welcome to keep writing for the paper in an editorial page column called "Community Perspective." The open-forum column is available to anyone wanting to express an opinion, within reason, he said. Writers will not be paid.

The change was made, according to Bostian, to improve diversity on the editorial page.

"I was uncomfortable with the idea of having two paid columnists from a fairly narrow political perspective without the balance," he said. To try to recruit paid columnists with differing opinions would be difficult, he said.

O'Neill, who had written an editorial page column for the newspaper for four years, and Moore, who had been on the page for about two years, were informed by the News-Miner last month that they would no longer be paid for columns but that their unpaid submissions would be welcome. They had been receiving $50 per column.

O'Neill wrote about wide-ranging topics, from scud missiles to local politics to the Healy-to- Fairbanks intertie, while Moore focused on Native issues. Two other columnists received the same notice. All four were free-lance writers, not staffers at the newspaper. Moore and O'Neill contributed about one or two columns a month, appearing more regularly than the other two.

Stacey Fritz, coordinator of No-Nukes North, an organization fighting construction of a National Missile Defense System in Alaska, helped organize the protest and started a petition drive in support of the writers.

"The people here feel the News-Miner only wants to print--I don't want to say fluff-but feel- good stories and the public wants hard-core investigative journalism," she said.

Fritz said it's possible the majority of Fairbanksans are happy to see O'Neill's columns go. "But that's a perfect reason to retain him."

Others spoke of a need to have columnists who will write on topics the paper has not covered.

"I feel without the columnists we don't have a whit of balance with seasoned journalists offering researched opinions," music teacher Suzi Lozo said. "They're one of the main reasons I read the paper."

Larry Paquin, a retiree, said he was on hand to protest the "firing of the columnists" and that he was hoping the rally would lead to their rehiring.

"At least it's important to protest the silencing of investigative reporting," he said. "Even though they may have stepped on institutional toes, what they said was important to the public."

News-Miner Publisher Marilyn Romano said she believes that most people understand that O'Neill and Moore can continue to submit columns but as unpaid writers. She stressed that the two were freelancers, not employees. "There is a big difference," she said.

"I have a hard time believing Dan or Gary do it for the money. It's not about money; it's about an opportunity to be read, to get their message out. That still applies today."

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR OF THE FAIRBANKS DAILY NEWS MINER ON THE "EDITORIAL PAGE POLICY SHIFT"
*****************************************************
(the News Miner refused to run this one...)
Dear Kelly Bostian, Editor:

I am deeply troubled the News-Miner has fired Dan O'Neill. Being a regular reader of the online News-Miner, I have enjoyed Mr. O'Neill articles especially the investigative reports on the proposed secret Missile Defense Agency Scud launches. Disclosing this information prompted me to write a letter to the editor, which was refused by Gina Farrell on the grounds that I was not local or part of the readership. In light of the events with journalist Dan O'Neill, I have to question the integrity of the News-Miner. Based on my interactions, Mr. O'Neill's firing, and others writers problems surrounding the NMD and missile tests issues, I am forced, unfortunately, to view the News-Miner as a potential censor.

As food for thought Arthur Sulzburger once wrote that the "Freedom of the press, or, to be more precise, the benefit of freedom of the press, belongs to everyone - to the citizen as well as the publisher... The crux is not the publisher's 'freedom to print'; it is, rather, the citizen's 'right to know.' "

I urge you, Kelly Bostian, to reinstate Dan O'Neill and make a stronger effort to promote the citizens right to know.

Sincerely,

Andrew Hund

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

You what? Do I understand this correctly? The News-Miner
has dumped Dan O'Neil? With some trumped-up excuse, too?
Well, I shouldn't be surprised, I guess: everything frightens
conservatives, after all, especially someone who starts telling the
truth.
Better to muzzle someone if he offends those with power,
isn't it? But who was offended? Will you not even reveal that?
Was it the Wood Fan Club? The UAF secret scientists? The
morons in Juneau? Problem Corner? The fractured pillars of the
community?
Probably all of the above; however, even from here it stinks,
and I suspect headquarters had something to do with this stupid
decision.
Oh, the world of journalistic
ethics! What a lesson in applied democracy and freedom of the press
for school and college students: rock the boat, question authority,
and you'll get shut down.
This is slightly different from what they read about in their
textbooks although it does resemble definitions of fascism. Book
burning next?
But we'll never know what happened with Dan, who was your
best columnist by far, with more research per column inch, more
probing commentary, and more honesty than all the rest of your
humble staff combined.
But hey, once you steal an election--you know, the one
Florida and the Supremes fixed--you can do almost anything, because
you've got the power, and in the final analysis, that's all that
matters.
Maybe you can even get Dan fired, run out of town and
blackballed. It's been done in Fairbanks before.

With disgust,

R. E. Stratton
102 Lesley Ln, Hattiesburg, MS 39402 (601-296-6971)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Many local residents have been offended by what they read in Gary Moore's and Dan O'Neill's columns in the past. Some are relieved that the News Miner editorial board has effectively removed those voices from this page. What the News Miner editors are really removing, however, are the ideals of a free press in Interior Alaska.

Residents who hate what O'Neill and Moore had to say would still defend their right to say it, and recognize the value of having a local paper that provides a diversity of opinions. No matter where someone stands politically, they know what it is called when a writer is silenced.

Unfortunately, more is at stake here than the paper's discomfort with effective investigative journalism. The News Miner's owner, MediaNews Group, is preparing to take over local Fairbanks television channel 11. The Federal Communication Commission is removing the regulation that prohibits one company from controlling both a newspaper and a TV station in one town.

The rule was meant to prevent one corporate entity from becoming too powerful of a single voice within a community. Normal marketplace conditions would encourage a maximun diversity of voices.

Since the FCC made the rule in 1975, media ownership has been concentrated into fewer and more powerful corporations. Diversity has already suffered. The few, large media conglomerates focus on maximizing their profit, not on local issues or diverse opinions.

It is not in the public interest for one company to own both the paper and TV station in Fairbanks. The Communications Act recognized that encouraging diverse opinions in the media promotes a vibrant democracy.

Opinionated interior residents from across the political spectrum agree on very little, and that is very good. It’s called democracy. We can all agree to defend that--can the News Miner editorial board?

Sincerely,

Stacey Fritz
Coordinator, No Nukes North
info@nonukesnorth.net
PO Box 84997
Fairbanks, AK 99708
(907) 457 - 5230

Great loss March 31, 2002

To the
editor: What a loss to Fairbanks! This community has
benefited enormously from the intellectual vigor and
vitality brought to the pages of its newspaper by
columnist Dan O'Neill. O'Neill would be underpaid
anywhere at 10 times the shockingly inadequate sum
($50 per column!) he's apparently accepted from the
News-Miner for years. When feeling discouraged by
our community's isolation, its lack of vision and
humdrum viewpoints, there's been great consolation in
thinking proudly of the wit and insight, fresh and
intelligent perspectives (and first-rate prose!) Dan
O'Neill always brought to his columns. O'Neill's
investigative reports are unmatched across the state.
So long as Dan O'Neill lives and writes here,
Fairbanks remains an intellectually rich town, I've
thought.

By publishing regularly in the News-Miner
Gary Moore and Yelena Matesuvich have also given
much to Fairbanks and the Interior. Dropping these
three writers, as managing editor Kelly Bostian
announced plans to do in Sunday's paper, is a terrible
mistake.

Mr. Bostian, your decision insults these writers,
weakens this community's only newspaper, and
brings great loss to the paper's readers. Please
reconsider.

Sincerely,

Jean Anderson

Fairbanks

Bring him back

April 2, 2002

To the editor:

As a daily subscriber for over 11 years, I was very
disappointed to read that the News-Miner intends to
drop Dan O'Neill's column.

Although I do not always agree with everything Dan
writes, or with his timing, I respect his knowledge,
courage, and insights. With the passing of Celia
Hunter, Dan's column provides the only consistent
alternative voice in the Interior. The proposed
substitution of a variety of guest viewpoint writers will
not compensate for the continuity of having a
progressive commentator on the local scene.

Because he contributes regularly, Dan is able to point
out relationships between various issues and events.
His ability to ferret out these linkages is what I value
most about his work. Given the overall budget of the
News-Miner, at $50 per column once or twice each
month, I doubt that economic considerations are the
real reason for dropping Dan. My guess is that in
seeking the truth, he may have stepped on the toes of
some powerful people and institutions. But isn't that
what a free press is all about? Hopefully the
community will speak up so that the News-Miner
reverses its decision.

Ronnie Rosenberg

Fairbanks

Moore and O'Neill

April 2, 2002

To the editor:

I am very disappointed by your decision to terminate
the regular columns written by Dan O'Neill and Gary
Moore. Mr. O'Neill and Mr. Moore have consistently
provided professional-quality investigative journalism of
the sort one expects from newspapers in much larger
markets. Their efforts to sniff out interesting and
important stories that make some of the elite
institutions in our community uncomfortable are an
invaluable service that should be rewarded rather than
punished.

Despite Kelly Bostian's proffered rationale for this
decision published in Sunday's paper, I fail to see how
the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner will be improved by
Mr. O'Neill's and Mr. Moore's absence from your
pages. Indeed, the News-Miner's credibility for serious
journalism is enormously diminished.

Michael Welsh

Fairbanks

Travesty March 19, 2002 To
the editor:

Dan O'Neill has been a regular News-Miner columnist
for four years with two columns a month. For many
readers, including myself, Dan's work was the single
best thing in the paper.

The combination of O'Neill's tremendous research and
his great writing skills made his work informative and
entertaining. So it was with a shock that we got word
that the News-Miner is removing Dan's column. Dan
O'Neill is one of the only progressive voices we have
in this town. So it is very disturbing because Dan
shined the light on issues nobody else would touch.
There isn't a single respected newspaper in this
nation that doesn't have local columnist with regular
slots.

The News-Miner claims Dan can still submit opinions
along with everyone else. They claim that this is just
a policy shift. Get real! You either have a regular
column or you don't. Spin it however you want, Dan
O'Neill is being removed. The irony is that he just
broke a major story on secret military Scud missile
testing. There's no question that Dan was a thorn in
the side of numerous powerful interests.

Maybe the timing of his removal was a coincidence,
but one thing is clear. With this move, the
News-Miner is going to alienate a significant sector of
its readership. For many, it may be reaching the point
where a News-Miner subscription isn't worth it. I, for
one, am going to fight this travesty.

Sincerely,

Sean McGuire

Fairbanks

What's up?

March 26, 2002

To the editor:

I've learned that Dan O'Neill has been retired by the
Daily News-Miner. Nixing a thoughtful voice from your
coverage hurts your paper, don't you know? Many
readers may conclude from his dismissal that the
News-Miner is uncomfortable with local, in-depth
reportage of sensitive subjects. Or readers might
conclude that the News-Miner is downsizing to focus
on a core business, printing analysis from other
papers.

Dan O'Neill has a positive, rational social outlook. He
is not a crank, a freeze in the darker. He did level
politicians, push some rocket buttons, and with his
factsy prose made some hard-working American
citizens blush.

Central to what it means to be an American: the right
to question and to expose questionable practices,
and to keep questioning when all the polite folk think
that's quite enough. No law specifies that social
critics be credible and acceptable. Dan happens to be
both, so he did not suffer a disgraceful loss of
audience: No, Dan lost favor with the management.

As a consumer of the news, I'd had no fill of Dan. He
is a witty writer with a style worthy of emulation, and
he's usually right. Ridding the paper of Dan is one bad
thing, but ridding the paper of social critics ... there's
talk of this on the streets, so what's going on at the
News-Miner?

See you at the book signing, Dan.

David van den Berg

Fairbanks

Bring back Dan

April 10, 2002

To the editor:

I want to add my voice to those extremely
disappointed in the termination of Dan O'Neill's byline.
To me Dan represented the most insightful voice that
the News-Miner featured. Celia Hunter's passing was
a big blow that left a void.

Then after one crank letter the political cartoon gets
watered down so it offends no one and now Dan
O'Neill is gone! This dramatic change on the editorial
page initiates a serious eroding of what makes
Fairbanks fair. Bring back Dan O'Neill and offer him a
sizable pay raise to atone for your error.

Suzanne Rich-Osborn

Fairbanks

Go Dan!

April 11, 2002

To the editor:

Once in a remote cabin in the White Mountains my
friends and I were awakened by deafening noise and a
brilliant spotlight illuminating the cabin, dogs and
toboggans. A military chopper. Young men were
playing hide-and-seek with multi-million dollar
machinery in a national recreation area. Now I learn
that Scud missiles (Saddam Hussein's favorite) may
soon be flying over the Whites as well.

Or maybe not--thanks to master whistleblower and
investigative journalist Dan O'Neill. He spilled the
beans. Dan loves to expose harebrained schemes.
My personal favorite is his book, "The Firecracker
Boys," which documents the plans of the Atomic
Energy Commission (in 1958) to create an
unnecessary harbor in northern Alaska using
H-bombs! The two University of Alaska Fairbanks
biologists who questioned the wisdom of such a plan
were fired.

So what did the News-Miner do with such a thoughtful
journalist? He also was fired and for exactly the same
reasons.

Is Dan a troublemaker, radical and whistleblower?
That's right.

Well, he's in good company. Such luminaries as
Thomas Jefferson said it is essential that
democracies have people who carefully scrutinize
those entrenched in power (big business, big
bureaucracy, and their cheerleaders--the politicians),
or they will be accountable to no one.

Despite the News-Miner's litany of excuses, they fired
Dan because he did not make it through the narrow
ideological weave of the paper's thought police.

I would urge the News-Miner to print a disclaimer in
each paper saying: The Daily News-Miner is not a
forum for the free exchange of ideas and information.
Only 'news' passing our censors will be deemed
admissible and permissible."

Go Dan!

Mark Taylor

Fairbanks
No respect

April 11, 2002

To the editor:

The News-Miner's recent decision to silence its
remaining columnists has stimulated a lively response
from its readers. Taken collectively, the letters have
thoroughly skewered the paltry justifications offered
by the editor and no more need be said on that
subject.

What really disturbs me about this episode is the
evident low regard the paper has for its readers. By
offering the explanation it did, the paper revealed its
assessment of its readers as stupid and uncritical
consumers of whatever drivel it cares to print. The
readers have demonstrated otherwise--is it too much
to hope that the News-Miner might be inspired to set
its standards a little higher?

Sheila Fellerath

Fairbanks

Letter campaign

April 11, 2002

To the editor:

A letter writing campaign about Dan O'Neill and Gary
Moore is in full bloom now. Many of these
spontaneous outbursts of support decry the loss of
journalistic freedom and condemn this blatant
censorship from the News-Miner. Like many of the
past columns by O'Neill, most of the letters are
alarmist, disingenuous and incorrect.

Since when does censorship mean not paying
someone to write? As far as I can tell, Mr. Moore and
Mr. O'Neill are free to write and submit whatever
articles they want to. I doubt that these gentlemen are
only willing to write for money. While I disagree with
some of their opinions, I do not doubt their passion.

Several of the letter writers state that they will not
subscribe to the newspaper; you could pool these
saving and pay Mr. Moore and Mr. O'Neill yourself! If
any of you are so concerned about our community,
put your money where your mouth is.

It is disheartening that some people find it necessary
to distort the truth to support their position. Try
injecting a little honesty into this O'Neill and Moore
blitz.

Mark Lawson

Fairbanks
Recent purge

April 10, 2002

To the editor:

We miss the contributions of the three local
columnists who were recently purged. It is difficult to
see how democracy is better served by your new
policy.

It's fine to encourage the general public to submit
guest columns, but these should not replace the
regular, well-researched columns you have supported
for many years. They present views and information
that broaden the editorial content of the Daily
News-Miner, adding value and interest to the opinion
page.

We hope you will see fit to reinstate the paid (albeit
poorly) contributions of your regular columnists.

Karen and Mike Taylor

Fairbanks

Sky isn't falling

April 11, 2002

To the editor:

Kudos to the News-Miner for their community-minded
decision to diversify the Opinion page.

The first two weeks of new columns have been most
refreshing. Each has been educational, enlightening
and most of all thought-provoking. Isn't that precisely
what the opinion page is supposed to do?

Rather than conspiring to suppress Dan O'Neill and
Gary Moore, the News-Miner instead chose to offer
the same opportunity to address the community to
other local thinkers and experts. The first new
columns attest to the wealth of expertise just waiting
to be tapped out there. How can that be considered a
bad thing?

Well, from the incessant whining I've read in letters
here lately, I guess it's a bad thing if you're a liberal
faced with the loss of guaranteed access to a captive
audience where you can expose evil right wing plots
against the people. Yes Dan and Gary lost
guaranteed columns, but that's the only thing they or
the community have lost--the guarantee. They're still
be welcome to submit opinion columns along with
everyone else. And if those opinions are the valuable
blockbusters their supporters believe they are, the
News-Miner will surely run them.

So contrary to what Chicken Liberal has been
squawking, the sky is really not falling. The only
tangible change is that the Fairbanks and Interior
community will now get exposed to a broader
spectrum of grassroots thought.

To all Dan and Gary supporters, quit thinking only of
your personal politics and start thinking about what's
good for your community (like the News-Miner
obviously has). By providing an enhanced forum in
which to discuss issues of the day, the News-Miner
has provided another valuable benefit to all of us--one
that enriches and informs the electorate.

For the First Amendment,

Christopher D. Shock

North Pole
Editorial columns

April 12, 2002

To the editor:

Thanks in advance for reconsidering the dismissal of
the three paid editorial columnists. I am sure that you
will decide that the best interests of the community
and of the newspaper is to reinstate the three local
columnists, implement the new community voice
feature, and if space is needed eliminate the national
columnists.

This will allow you to continue to publish the excellent
work by the three longstanding contributors in addition
to providing a wider set of opinions and views from
members of our local community.

Richard Hutchison, MD

Critical journalism

April 4, 2002

To the editor:

I recently heard about the decision to replace Dan O'Neill's column with a "community perspective" column. In simple terms, this is a poor decision. Why replace the only critical, liberal-leaning voice in the newspaper with another tool for local interest groups to advertise?

Dan O'Neill is an intelligent, well-spoken individual who for years has been the sole representative in the News-Miner of Fairbanks' liberal community. To do away with his column is to do away with good journalism. A strong and vibrant news publication gives voice to all sides, including self-criticism.

Critical voices are the hallmark of a free society. The first amendment exists to protect critical voices like Dan's, dissenting voices and expression of minority opinions. I don't always agree with Dan, but I have always been proud of the News-Miner for giving him space. Please bring him back, show your support for critical journalism.

Nathaniel Vincent Mohatt

Fairbanks

Rationale April 4, 2002 To the editor:

Sadly, Kelly Bostian's public rationale for firing O'Neill and Moore is more akin to TV's pain and sleeping pill commercials than to thoughtful editorial policy. Rejecting journalism's model, Bostian buried the most important feature of his announcement deep in the column, a twist of misdirection leading the way.

Not nearly as deft as ad agency talent, Bostian's effusive narrative (Sunday, March 31, Page A4) is a transparent masquerade for the more likely reasons driving the News-Miner's Easter massacre.

Not long ago, a local auto dealer became irritated when a Fairbanks TV newsroom reported details of legal proceedings involving his business. He found the coverage embarrassing and threatened to pull $50,000 in annual advertising. Financial coercion of this sort would not be acknowledged by Bostian, but it is a useful alternative to consider if you doubt the published explanations for cleansing the News-Miner's editorial page.

It is clear to many people that rather than diminishing the flow of quality information, a community's newspaper ought to use its ink to maintain a diversity of opinion. O'Neill and Moore's writing certainly fulfilled this criterium. Both are long-term residents; Moore's roots in Alaska span 10,000 years of Native heritage. Both offered the public expertise in topics of significance, for today and tomorrow.

O'Neill's recent scoop regarding secret Scud missile tests at Poker Flat is an example of a story the News-Miner would hesitate to cover in depth. Breaking the story before the project began is a credit to O'Neill's brand of journalism.

O'Neill highlighted potential problems with land-based missile launches, informing readers of the toxicity of residual fuel and its effects on Alaska's land and water. In Russia, villages under flight paths of military rockets are suffering unexplained cancer clusters and other diseases. In the face of O'Neill's research, the Pentagon pulled the project rather than expose it to further questions.

So, rather than contend with effective, independent journalists, Bostian decided to retreat to the political sidelines. Why risk the ire of the military, the university and advertisers? It's safer and easier to continue pitching his readers sleeping pills and mood enhancers.

Douglas Yates

Ester

Down the ladder April 4, 2002 To the editor:

How sad that the News-Miner can't take lessons from the Anchorage Daily News on what it takes to become a Pulitzer Prize-winning newspaper. Instead, the News-Miner has descended two rungs down on the ladder of good journalism by firing the well-informed, thought provoking, controversial and sometimes perhaps politically incorrect Dan O'Neill and Gary Moore. Especially missed will be Dan O'Neill, who has the convictions and courage to say what needs to be said.

What a sinking feeling I got this morning while reading the News-Miner Opinion page--that without Dan O'Neill, we will probably never again know what's really, really, going on behind the scenes in Fairbanks and Alaska.

To sum up though, I must admit that the News-Miner will hold a very special and deserving spot in my house. I am housebreaking a puppy.

Sincerely,

Paddy Tatum

Nenana

Losing touch

April 5, 2002

To the editor:

It was shocking news to learn that the News-Miner has dropped regular columnists Dan O'Neill and Gary Moore.

Both provided unique and diverse insights on issues that the regular content of the paper neglects. By canceling all regular guest editorials in favor of unpaid volunteer writers, our only daily of record loses touch with investigative reporting. It's a sad day when important Fairbanks news breaks in the Anchorage papers.

Managing Editor Kelly Bostian makes feeble excuses for dropping the controversial journalists, revealing that easy-readin' is the style that will replace them.

He is candid, if vague and inconsistent, about the firings. Moore says Bostian wrote him that "some sources confuse your standing and think the newspaper is assigning you to put your spin on certain issues..."

This is a reason to correct the misunderstanding, not to throw the baby out with the bath water.

The Anchorage Daily News article quotes Bostian more forthrightly "...we're going to have to start doing it right and recruit a stable of columnists that's a diverse group, or don't do it."

Note "start doing it right..." i.e., the News-Miner editorial page has never done it right and worse, they're stopping what little they used to do right on the doubtful grounds that the columnists they like died off. What a dismal and pusillanimous legacy to the greatness of Celia Hunter and even William Ransom Wood, who, autocrat and censor though he was, did not shrink from honest work.

In a bald-faced non sequitur, Bostian says that recruiting talented local writers is for him, "an insurmountable task," so much so, that he is forced to fire the last two who were working for him. No doubt it is going to be hard, when you exclude everyone to the left of Cal Thomas. It's very clear that when it comes to "doing it right" at the News-Miner, the marching orders from the owner, MediaNews Group of Denver, are "don't do it."

I canceled my subscription long ago. The prospect of paying 75 cents for pabulum will keep my quarters in my pocket as I pass the newsstand.

Sincerely,

Coert Olmsted

Fairbanks

Bostian decision

April 7, 2002

To the editor:

Fairbanks Daily News-Miner Managing Editor Kelly Bostian represents his decision to introduce a new column called "Community Perspective" as "for the better." His criteria for these contributions are "well-researched, well informed items." He also says "local opinion is the name of the game." On these grounds there is ample reason to retain Dan O'Neill and Gary Moore as regular columnists.

Bostian desires "broader representation," the term "broader" clearly referencing O'Neill and Moore in particular. Their views--their "representation"--clearly fell on the "con" side of Bostian's "mental list of pros and cons." Bostian is clear that O'Neill and Moore offer views that detract from a "level playing field." In short, O'Neill and Moore have been censored.

Bostian would have us believe that this is an either-or decision--either a Community Perspective page or regular local columnists. This is a false disjunction. Precisely because O'Neill and Moore contribute only about twice per month Bostian can retain those columns and have his community page. I submit Bostian can and should do so. I submit, further, that otherwise the FDNM editorial board is an accomplice in censorship--no ifs, ands, or buts about it. So much the worse for freedom of the press in Fairbanks.

Norman K. Swazo

Fairbanks

Not renewing

April 8, 2002

To the editor:

I was about to renew my News-Miner subscription when I read Mr. Bostian's March 31 editorial: "A change for the better." Dead set on rationalizing firing his few remaining local columnists, Mr. Bostian weaves a tortuous and flawed argument. At the outset, for instance, he describes News-Miner readers as blessing the community with their high education and ability to educate. Later though, he depicts them as so ignorant, they can't even sort out the columnists relationship with the paper, even when its explained in article tag-lines.

Apparently unable to find replacements for departed columnists, the Bostian Solution is to fire all who remain. Should we treat teacher and nurse shortages the same way? Mr. Bostian claims guest opinions have few cons, but here's one: Unpaid guests are not professional writers or researchers, nor should one expect them to be. It's like an investment publication saying: "Forget professional investment specialists who have followed markets for years--we'll publish anyone who owns stock, or might like to, provided it doesn't cost us." Would you value that publication?

Even if Mr. Bostian can't find more columnists, why not retain the few (admittedly cheap) he has? For a diversity of opinion, he claims. But O'Neill and Moore often cover what the News-Miner doesn't or won't--firing them reduces diversity.

Eliminating professionals, Mr. Bostian concludes, creates a level playing field. But this isn't a game. Mr. Bostian's business is informing people and his duty as editor is to provide the most professional and credible service possible. Add community voices if you need to, but firing professional researchers and writers for the reasons Mr. Bostian states reveals editorial negligence (unless there's an unstated agenda).

Recently, Mr. Bostian made a public display of contrition and reinstated the Mallard Filmore cartoon in response to complaints he got for removing it. I'm curious to see his reaction to the community response over firing his columnists. Does Mr. Bostian value Dan O'Neill as much as he does a duck cartoon?

Not holding my breath, not renewing my subscription.

Enrico Sassi

Fairbanks

Rethink decision

April 8, 2002

To the editor:

What are you thinking? The firing of Dan O'Neill and Gary Moore serves only to silence the local informed voices that you claim to champion. You say local opinion is the name of our game--and yet you silence the voices we have come to look for and respect. Writers of the caliber of Dan O'Neill and Gary Moore are gifts to the community and the fact that they did what they did for a pittance is laudatory.

So rather than continue with what appeared to be a very workable system (the option of filling the editorial page with Guest Opinion, local paid investigative writers, and syndicated columnists) you have given us less rather than more. And to top it off with a fair bit of hyped-up rhetoric you are trying to convince us otherwise.

I have grown to trust these familiar voices on the editorial page. After all they have their reputations to uphold because they are committed and paid to do the kind of tough journalism that they tackle. You say it is difficult to find writers who will do what Dan and Gary have done for years for so little remuneration.

Do you think you are likely to find steady, talented, ethical writers who will do the same for nothing? What will this "new" format offer that the other did not? More ranting and raving about issues that the writers usually have a vested interest in? More misinformation? Less credibility?

I don't understand how this decision serves the community better. It is pretty easy to see how it benefits the News-Miner though--and I think revenue saved is low on that list of benefits to the News-Miner.

You need to seriously rethink this one.

Mary Calmes

Fairbanks

Sad day

April 8, 2002

To the editor:

Newspapers keep us informed of the local, state, national and international news. They report on community events, advertise local businesses, provide a forum for opinions, and strive to do so with reasonably good writing.

Radio, TV, Walkmen, VCRs, cell phones, computers, GameBoys, and DVDs combine to whittle away at the written word and overwhelm us with too many poor quality ideas. Fortunately a good newspaper is a champion for both good writing and well-formed opinions. Unfortunately the News-Miner took a giant step backwards in these two roles as a local paper.

Dan O'Neill's columns were not only a solid addition to the Opinion page but he is one of the best writers to grace the paper's pages. Whether or not you agree with O'Neill should make no difference; the guy can write! I've often laughed out loud as he paints a picture leading down a well-crafted verbal path and then addresses the subject with obvious relish and compelling logic. This is exactly the sort of writing that papers ought to have. We all need examples of good writing so it's tragic to lose such a writer.

It's also ironic that UA President Hamilton received national accolades for his unequivocal support of academic freedom of speech while our local rag yields to special interests and cans Dan O'Neill and Gary Moore. These columnists were not shy about taking on influential institutions. They obviously have more spine that the News-Miner which hides behind a litany of lame excuses.

Rather than complaining about losing other regular columnists why doesn't the paper recruit more? "Not in the stars," says the managing editor; I figure that is exactly the newspaper's responsibility. By eliminating regular columnists the News-Miner gains more control over what is said in and about our community. We lose diversity of opinion. Some regular columnists were spared dismissal because they are found in the Heartland rather than on the Opinion page. Why not move O'Neill and Moore into the Heartland?

It's a sad day for both the written word and freedom of the press.

Thanks,

Don Pendergrast

Fairbanks

Reconsider

April 8, 2002

To the editor:

We are extremely disappointed at the News-Miner's recent decision to drop Dan O'Neill's column.

His opinions were well-researched, informative, witty, and (yes) controversial. But isn't that the job of a newspaper--to inform its readers on a wide variety of opinions? Dan presented progressive ideas which don't appear elsewhere in your paper.

The News-Miner was definitely on the right track by incorporating a variety of local columnists with various viewpoints. If the problem is that you need more than two steady columnists, try to recruit replacements. It's hard to believe that you can't find any other potential columnist in the entire borough.

We urge you to reconsider this action and reinstate his column as soon as possible. We miss it!

Janet Schichnes and

Jerry Lipka

Fairbanks

Reinstate O'Neill

April 8, 2002

To the editor:

I have been a part of the Fairbanks community since I first came to Alaska in 1961. Even when old Snedden used to own the newspaper I felt included as a reader of the Daily News-Miner. Certainly the paper was conservative, but it wasn't exclusive of my point of view. Now, it seems, with Dan O'Neill given his walking papers, the News-Miner has entered a new age of exclusivity. I feel totally shut out.

I worry that it might be yet one more part of the Enron phenomenon. Even the most prestigious newspapers in the country ignored investigating that story until it was too late--because of fear of the clout of corporate advertisers. Is this some of the same, but add military and university to the equation? I hope not, but I am almost cynical enough to bet on it.

These are becoming dangerous times for our democracy, not only because of terrorists. As Pogo once said many years ago, we are our own worst enemy, and we may very well end up incrementally destroying the laws and institutions we have been respected for around the world.

Wake up, News-Miner. Can't you see this is what you are doing? By depriving people like me of a voice (through Dan O'Neill), you are contributing to the Pogo Syndrome. It's still not too late. Reinstate Dan O'Neill. Reinstate him today.

Frank J. Keim

Fairbanks

Dan O'Neill

April 8, 2002

To the editor:

It is very disappointing that we are no longer able to regularly read Dan O'Neill's column in the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner. It is a great loss.

He is the only one who has been digging out the facts and bringing them to the public. These days, it is getting more and more difficult for us to know what is actually happening, or, what is the truth.

Most of the media is seemingly controlled by the big money of major enterprises, and the facts are decorated, twisted, and hidden by them and for them, to build their own empire. We, the common citizens, often do not know what dangers are happening around us without good investigative reporting like that provided by O'Neill.

Very recently, O'Neill exposed the Poker Flat matter. It is remarkably important to us. He is the real voice of this community. We must have him as a regular columnist of our local paper.

Yoriko Freed

Fairbanks

Short-term view

April 10, 2002

To the editor:

It is with dismay that I find the news of the local columnists being let go by the News-Miner. The local news and perspective is the main reason that many of us read the News-Miner. We can get the national and international news much quicker and in greater depth over the radio, TV, and Internet. We do not need to read these stories many hours later in the News-Miner.

What we do need from the News-Miner are the local information and perspective provided by columnists here in the local area. There should be regular columns. Only then can a topic be fully explored in depth.

We have not seen the News-Miner's editorial policy change since the boomer days of Project Chariot and the Rampart Dam. They have never seen a boomer project for short-term gain that they did not like.

In their vision Alaska is to remain one big construction camp or military use area until apparently it is stripped. By then they will all be chilling in Palm Springs or Phoenix with their carpetbags full. What else are we to believe from these actions and views put forth? The local columnists offered at least a counter view to this philosophic view of Alaska.

Bring them back or is the next move to put Mallard Fillmore on the editorial page?

In service,

Dave Lacey

Fairbanks

To the editor:

I profoundly disagree with your decision to can Dan O'Neill. I've wondered in the past if Dan embarrassed the News-Miner, not because he raises sensitive topics that wouldn't otherwise get aired, but because he is the only investigative reporter in the paper and he is not even on your staff!

Of course he raises touchy issues. That's the vital role that a free media is supposed to do, keep the powers that be on their toes. But despite the discomfort it raises among those powers from time to time, we are better for it. How many Interior residents would be comfortable with the military secretlylo launching 22 scud missiles known for spewing toxins right near our homes and dropping them in the Brooks Range? How many think Pete Kelly should be called out on the carpet for pulling another Pete Kelly? How many dismayed to learn that a heavy-handed GVEA tried to get the Environmental Center's attorney laid off, but gratified that they were exposed for it? Like his opinions or not, Dan provides us, and you, with a valuable public service.

The editorial page and letters to the editor are the most important forum we have in the community for the free flow and exchange of ideas. We depend on you. Dan and Gary have made a real commitment and contribution to thise community through their writing. If you feel the need for greater diversity among regular contributors to make up for those gone, then please seek additional writers.

Let's see some journalistic integrity from the News-Miner. Please bring Dan and Gary back.

Sincerely,

Larry Landry

Fairbanks

To the editor:

Mr, Bostian's decision to eliminate paid local columnists from the News-Miner does a disservice to the Interior community. Regular local columnists provide an important balance to a local paper. Readers are able to develop a relationship with the columnists that they will never have with the authors of these so-called community perspectives. You may agree or disagree with the columnist, but over time readers learn where the regular columnist is coming from and how much to trust their research and opinion. With the new format readers cannot develop that relationship and will never be able to truly evaluate the information these community perspective contributors provide. Guest opinions are important, but they shouldn't take the place of regular columnists.

In fact, an opinion coming from a trusted, regular columnist might actually influence the opposition, while the guest columnist is unlikely to convince anyone but the already faithful. Rep. Kohring's rant of April 4 is a case in point. Rep. Kohring is not a part of the Interior community. He hails from Wasilla. The average Interior resident knows little to nothing about this person. I have no problem with the News-Miner publishing his ideas, although I personally find him uninformed to say the least. However, if this opinion represents a part of the Interior community, let's hear it from us, not some representative from Southcentral. SO much for packing the paper with local opinion.

The solution to the lack of diversity problem is to recruit more regular local columnists that we can get to know. I very much enjoyed the columnists the News-Miner just sacked, especially Mr. Moore's column since the News-Miner raraely covers Alaska Native issues and especially none of the controversies within the Native community.

Finally, Mr. Bostian insults his readership when he uses their supposed "confusion about these columnists' true relationship to the paper" as an excuse to eliminate them. Most of us aren't that stupid and the rest would understand quickly with a little more explanation.

This is not a change for the better. Bring back the regular columnists.

Jennifer Carroll,

Fort Yukon

To the editor:

Shame....Mr. O'Neill's contribution was often the only thing worth reading in the morning collection of yesterday's news items.

Paul H. Kulik

Fairbanks

To the editor:

The Community Perspective piece in the April 3 News-Miner is excellent. Sandy Screase is a delightful writer. Before I knew it, I had read every word, and was informed and entertained. But...

The article did not allay my disappointment over the elimination from the News-Miner of columnists Gary Moore and Dan O'Neill. Each in his own way has brought to light issues once ignored or buried and of importance to this and other communities.

The stated reason for this move is a decision to invite the opinions of a variety of people in the community, leaving no room for columnists. I think. I'm not too clear on why the two can't co-exist. It's enough to make one suspect a totally different pressure is operating.

Investigative reporting is a vital service. With the dismissal of Gary Moore and Dan O'Neill, the last of your local such reporters, it looks as though the News-Miner will now be a Milquetoast publication.

Helen Womack

Fairbanks

To the editor:

One more letter in support of Dan O'Neill, particularly during these times when we need some one to ask the right questions. His reporting of secret missile launchings at Poker Flat spurred a very healthy discussion of the univeristy's role and mission in accepting secret contracts from the military, to the point that an MIT research professor was invited to Fairbanks to share that institution's policies. Discussion is healthy.

A conservative Borough Assembly member stated on KUAC that he will be happier with a replacement of Mr. O'Neill's column. Indeed, we'd all be happier is the world reflected our own views. I often disagree with what I read on the editorial page but in hte face of indisputable reasonableness I must concede a point or two now and them.

Perhaps a compromise may be to hire Mr. O'Neil and Mr. Moore as investigative reporters and allow the reader to form his own opinions based on the facts presented. Anne Taylo Fleming recently examined the status of the news media today and found it sadly lacking. Her solution was a rededication to the highest goals and standards of jounalism. With that, we all benefit.

Pat Rawert

Fairbanks

What's really up?
April 24, 2002

To the editor:

I don't get it Kelly and Gina. The FDNM has always had guest opinions from a cross section of the community on the editorial page. What's all this hocus pocus about a new format? It appears you want to get out of the commitment to publishing O'Neill's writing that comes with being a columnist versus guest opinion writer. The shallow refrain of "he can always submit an opinion piece like everyone else" rings pretty hollow. If you are not going to take the responsibility to cover important stories in the region, like the launching of Scud missiles, then why not just keep a local columnist who writes stories that you and your reporters do not seem to have time to cover or deem unnewsworthy. So what's really up?

We are losing a voice that the paper had a commitment to publish. That's quite different than printing random selections of public opinion chosen by an editorial pager editor who is new to the community and as a military spouse, is here on a temporary tour of duty.

O'Neill's columns were researched and well written. He gave us information about our community that the News Miner does not. The Anchorage Daily News seems to recognize the value of Dan's investigative work. He was often their source for a number of stories on some major issues facing the state. Yes, Dan can write for the Daily News and yes, we can all buy the Anchorage paper... but that's not the point, or maybe it is. The FDNM editorial board and staff apparently choose not to recognize local talent. We won't be reading it here first. I guess it's time to lobby the Anchorage paper for a Fairbanks edition or a news bureau here. Call the editor or publisher of the Anchorage Daily News (it's a toll free number) and let them know you would like a Fairbanks edition. We need better Fairbanks news coverage.

Pat Walsh

Fairbanks

Cleaning the barn

April 29, 2002

To the editor:

Cleaning out the barn has never been a popular job but someone has to do it and Mr. Bostian it was your turn. A good job.

The celebrated loss of paid editorial writers, Dan O'Neill, Gary Moore, and Yelena Matusevich has certainly turned reading the editorial page into a spectator sport. As usual when some one's pet ox gets gored, out of the brush come a pack of I-Hate-You letter writers, certain their first amendment rights were poked along with the ox's ribs.

First off, nobody lost anything with the downgrading of these paid writers to non-paid status. Fifty bucks does not a professional opinion writer make. Neither does parroting national organizations nor quoting publications out of context that support the writer's opinion which has happen more often than not. Opinion is what it's all about folks--something you can get free almost anywhere, bars, churches, town hall meetings etc. or just look deep down inside yourself. I really enjoy opinion writers that are well-researched and honest. Quite frankly most of the writers dismissed by the News-Miner did not meet these standards. But by offering the community perspective, Bostian has opened a forum that could be the bully pulpit of good sense written from the heart by our neighbors.

I can offer hope to the dismissed authors. Reporter Samuel Langhorne Clemens was dismissed from a California gold camp newspaper for writing about a house fire. He wrote the piece with flaming details, stoked on the embers of passion mixed with pleas for better fire protection. His flowery humorous pose accused camp leaders of being so tight of purse they squeaked but short on fire protection for the shack owner. Mark Twain was fired for setting the fire he wrote so eloquently about.

History has it that Mr. Twain left town at a full gallop, not wishing to wait for the stage. And we all know the rest of that story.

Jim Ellison

North Pole

Between the lines?

April 30, 2002

To the editor:

It's now been a few weeks since the News-Miner has changed to the forum of Community Perspective on the editorial page. As they say, "to read between the lines," I suspect, as others, bowing to political pressure was probably the main reason.

Nonetheless, in all fairness, there have been a few good articles now from the political spectrum. That's good.

Hopefully though, more of the "cutting edge" journalism will reemerge and be encouraged through this venue. Whether it be Dan O'Neill, Gary Moore, or whomever (conservative or liberal), investigative journalism into controversial issues truly elevates a newspaper's status from the standard who, what, when, where, and how reporting.

Stu Pechek

Fairbanks

Heart of the issue

April 28, 2002

To the editor:

The News-Miner has printed over forty-five letters to the editor in support of Dan O'Neill and Gary Moore. And on April 12th, 125 readers personally went to the News-Miner to ask management to reconsider. The community has shown and continues to show overwhelming support for the reinstatement of Dan O'Neill and Gary Moore as regular columnists.

At the heart of this issue is the powerful desire to protect and nurture democracy. Democracy is a system that cannot function without a free flow of information to its citizens. If we are not informed, then our ability to participate in and defend the democratic process is removed.

The News-Miner has thus far failed in its responsibility to its readers and our democracy. My challenge to the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner is to allow the Fairbanks community to voice our conscience: Sponsor a mail-out ballot to your subscribers or at least an on-line poll. There is no reason that the News-Miner cannot recruit other local columnists, continue the Community Perspective column and reinstate Dan O'Neill and Gary Moore.

Sincerely concerned,

Ryan Tinsley

Fairbanks

Getting along

April 24, 2002

To the editor:

Problem I see here with this Dan O'Neill is he forgot "you got to go along to get along" in this man's army. Keep your mouth shut and do what you're told, soldier. Our friends at Lockheed Martin DeathStar Division need to put some jam on some stockholder bread and pay the CEO his customary $20 million annual bonus of federal taxpayer suet.

Last folks tried to buck it was Indians, didn't get with the program, and we shot them down worse than dogs if you recall. You got to go along to get along boy! Now that we've militarized the workplace through the Corporate Culture of Complicity Program the drones are pretty well on board keeping their mouths shut. Teamwork boy! Obedience! You better start learning yourself!

You got to go along to get along, and if we say jump you say, `How high, sir, yes sir!" Assimilate! This world doesn't need a canary in the coal mine, it needs parrots. Lots of party line parrots. Aawk! Do what you're told! Aawk! You got to go along to get along! Aawk!

In memoriam: `Didn't Go Along' Dan O'Neill. Died of a lack of respect for the institution of complicity, done in by self-serving corporate lackeys, who, witnesses claim, celebrated by smoking big old ceegars in a backroom somewhere Outside.

Etienne Indigo

Ester

Going for 100?
May 13, 2002

To the editor:

In recent weeks, you’ve printed nearly 80 letters supporting Dan O’Neill, sometimes Gary and Yelena. Are you going for 100? 200? 300? No topic since I arrived in 1966 has generated so much heat. If one letter expresses the opinion of 10 readers, as marketers say, then 800 readers oppose removing columnists they trust and enjoy. If this statistic isn’t true for (supposedly) independent-spirited Alaska, you’ve still goofed.

First, you claim “diverse views” are needed. In fact, your everyday editorial views are so dominant, so bland, predictable, business-oriented, and politically one-sided, that Dan and Gary provide a healthy balance—worthy opponents of the best kind. They bring readers! And Yelena offers a unique international voice. Community Perspectives is no substitute.

Second, you apparently fear dissent and the exchange of ideas. You assume readers want blandness. We don’t. My first reaction to your “Readers’ Choice Awards” was ah-hah! The News-Miner hopes to find a face-saving way to bring back Dan, Gary and Yelena. But no. I suspect the paper’s usual dull worldview marches on undisguised in the high school yearbook-style “competition” you pose: best dressed, best car, most likely to succeed.

Your “awards” competition (again) insults our intelligence. Do adults read a news publication to find the best “local TV personality,” “auto dealership,” karaoke or bar? The alternative handout Anchorage Press draws a big audience with similar fluff, but it’s lively—zany, funny, irreverent, socially and politically challenging—and it’s free. Fairbanks is a university and military town carved from wilderness, not just a business site. We live here. We readers pay to read our only local paper. Many subscribers are college graduates (often from UAF, mentioned nowhere among “Reader’s Choices.” Your readers travel widely, including routine trips across Canada, international duty tours, visits to Russia or Japan on sister city exchanges. Our geography and climate encourage innovative lives—and minds. Please stop treating us like fools. Listen to your readers. Bring back Dan, Gary and Yelena.

Jean Anderson

Fairbanks

Filtered information?

May 21, 2002

To the editor:

It seems rather odd that, in the midst of all sorts of important and controversial news regarding military activity in Alaska, the only newspaper in this farthest north major United States city, would discontinue paying their only "opinion writer" who was willing to expose said military activities. These activities were not necessarily secret, but neither were they general knowledge, and Alaskans certainly had and have the right to know. Isn't it the business of journalism to make sure the public has full access to accurate information?

O'Neill's columns were factual but his opinion of said activities was undeniably critical. I've long been under the impression that this is what democratic journalism is all about: inform the public, ask questions, challenge decision makers to justify themselves.

Our nation is at war, but we should still strive for democratic ideals. At the same time, the News-Miner Web site is being reconstructed and many of the letters to the editor regarding the new lack of paid opinion writers, the new "Community Perspective" pieces, and other parts of the paper will not be available on-line for some unknown length of time to come, if ever.

I have to acknowledge added personal motivation here--I wrote a community perspective (not directly related to military activity, though there are plenty of connections which I did not draw out) a few weeks ago (FDNM, May 2) and am frustrated that there is no link to pass along.

Updates to the FDNM Web site have been sporadic, at best, and the reconstruction seems to be taking a long time (a month so far). Surely a new Webmaster could be hired, and the bugs worked out, if the ownership (MediaNews Group in Denver) decided it was a priority to make the entire paper available on-line.

Shouldn't the major news outlet be enabling dialogue, rather than selecting what will be held in the record?

If the FDNM wants to avoid finger pointing by conspiracy theorists, you'll need to try harder to provide information rather than appearing to filter it.

Thank you,

Anna Godduhn

Fairbanks

Frustrated

May 13, 2002

To the editor:

I am distressed at what is happening to the local news media in Fairbanks. Of course, the loss of Dan O'Neill was a big blow to the print media. Now the local news on Channel 11 has deteriorated so much that we find more Fairbanks news on the Channel 2 broadcast from Anchorage.

I wonder if the people on Channel 11 even realized that the Legislature was in session. There certainly was no evidence of it on their broadcasts. They used to cover the Borough Assembly and City Council too--but no more. It's easy to take a camera into an elementary school and get cute pictures of little children, which is about all they've had on the so-called news lately.

It will be interesting to see if Channel 11 ever takes note of the gubernatorial election this fall, or any of the other state or local contests. I won't know, because I don't watch them any more. I'd like to protest the columnist firing at the News-Miner by stopping my subscription, but I want to know what is happening in my community, and the newspaper is the only game in town.

A frustrated political junkie,

Ann Swift

Fairbanks

To the editor:

I am writing to add my voice to the chorus of those urging you to reverse
your decision to fire Dan O'Neill and Gary Moore. In Moore you had a
thoughtful perspective that also belonged to an Alaska Native. I did not
always agree with his opinions, but I could acknowledge the quality of his
pieces. In O'Neill you had a careful researcher and a writer of uncommon
clarity. His well-reasoned arguments have cheered like-minded souls and
educated the open-minded. Those who disagreed with him were forced to
strengthen their own arguments to stay in the debate, much to the public
good. Failing that, they called him a liberal or terminated his contract.

This newspaper failed to sway public opinion through reasoned debate on some
recent hot-button issues, such as the three constitutional amendments
proposed by legislators and defeated by voters in 2000. Faced with the
onerous chore of strengthening its own arguments--facts are hard to find and
only confuse people anyway--it has instead chosen to turn off the other
team's microphone. In so doing, it has seriously diminished its own
credibility and value to the public, but maybe now can win more debates.

As always, your decisions are the truest reflection of your priorities.

David Valentine
Ester, AK

Pleasing customers

May 20, 2002

To the editor:

For four years I delivered papers for the Daily News-Miner. I did my job well enough, albeit with a little motivational help from my mother, to be considered an Ace carrier. I didn't miss a customer or deliver a late paper for over a year. The rest of my motivation to do a good job came from wanting to keep my customers happy. It was their desire to receive a newspaper before 6 p.m. (when the News-Miner was an evening paper) which got me out in the snow and the dark, took me away from my fishing hole on the Chena River, and onto the streets with a huge stack of papers. I worked for them.

The customers, my friend Kelly Bostian, are not happy. The people have asked in over 75 letters to the editor, in multiple e-mails, in person, and in a group of 125 plus in front of the News-Miner to continue the News-Miner's commitment to publish Dan O'Neill's and Gary Moore's articles.

The O'Neill and Moore articles are obviously a service that is desired by the readership. Apparently you are in need of a gentle reminder that we are only talking about four articles a month to suffice the customers. You have stated the decision was yours to end the commitment. Alienating readers doesn't make any sense when you're trying to sell a product. Community Perspective is nonsensical if you're not listening to the community.

You've explained your position ineffectively and, I might add, unconvincingly, but only one thing is allowing you to stick with it, the News-Miner monopoly on newsprint.

Mr. Bostian, when are you going to back down from your monopolized, corporatized personal opinion and start working for the people?

Sincerely,

Jason Tinsley

Ace Carrier-retired

Fairbanks

The Ongoing