A group of reporters and editors at two newspapers on Alaska’s Kenai Peninsula are resigning over what they say was the handling of a recent article by their parent company, Carpenter Media Group, after it was criticized by a Republican state lawmaker.
The four staff members, who work for the Peninsula Clarion in Kenai and the Homer News, are resigning effective Oct. 13, according to a letter they submitted to a regional publisher with Carpenter Media that was also shared with news organizations.
The staff include Erin Thompson, the regional editor of the two papers along with the Juneau Empire; sports and features editor Jeff Helminiak; Clarion reporter Jake Dye; and Homer News reporter Chloe Pleznac. An additional Homer News reporter is not resigning at this time and will be the only remaining reporter at that paper, Dye said via email Monday.
The resignations stem from a Homer News article written by Pleznac that covered a vigil held in Homer earlier this month for conservative activist Charlie Kirk, who was shot and killed Sept. 10. A similar vigil was held in Anchorage last week, with political leaders and hundreds of residents in attendance.
Rep. Sarah Vance, a Republican who represents the southern Kenai Peninsula in the Alaska House, took to her official social media account and wrote on state letterhead to Sound Publishing, which operates the Peninsula Clarion, Homer News and Juneau Empire, as well as Tim Prince, the president and CEO of Carpenter Media, the parent company.
In her letter, Vance accused the newspaper of “hate-baiting” and claimed the article “weaponized inflammatory labels and partisan rhetoric” in its coverage of the memorial. She urged Sound Publishing to take “immediate corrective action,” and claimed there is “a growing movement to boycott Homer News advertising.”
The article, which originally described Kirk as “a far-right political activist and Christian-Nationalist icon,” was temporarily removed from the Homer News website on Sept. 25 before being republished with changes and Pleznac’s byline removed.
In the resignation letter, the reporters and editors say the article was removed and altered “without consulting the editor of the Homer News or the reporter who wrote the story.” Nothing in the altered article indicated that it had been changed, they noted.
The staff said in their letter that they have no problem with Vance expressing an opinion about the Homer News coverage of the vigil.
“What we do have a problem with is Carpenter Media management changing a story at the behest of an elected official,” they wrote. “We believe this destroys the credibility the public has placed in us as reporters and editors.”
In a subsequent post to her Facebook account, Vance thanked Carpenter Media leadership for “their thoughtful and professional response to my concerns about biased reporting.” The resigning staff members said in their letter that, despite making requests, they have “not been informed of the content of dialogue between Rep. Vance and Carpenter Media management.”
The staff are giving two weeks’ notice at the respective papers, and said in their letter that they hope the parent company will put staff in place “to continue the legacies of the Peninsula Clarion and Homer News.”
Vance and representatives of Carpenter Media did not immediately respond to requests for comment Monday evening.
The Peninsula Clarion began as a weekly in 1970 before transitioning to a daily newspaper in 1978, covering Kenai, Soldotna and surrounding communities, according to the paper’s website. The Homer News has published as a weekly newspaper since 1964.