P.M. BRIEFING : Anchorage Newspaper Sold
The man who has owned The Anchorage Times for more than 50 years is selling it to a locally based oil field service company, the two sides announced today.
An agreement wrapping up the transaction was signed by Bob Atwood, publisher and owner since 1935, and William Allen, VECO International board chairman. The purchase price was not disclosed. Under terms of the sales agreement, the sale is to become final Dec. 14.
The evening newspaper will remain the only locally owned and operated daily newspaper in Alaska’s largest city, and Anchorage will remain one of about a dozen cities nationwide supporting two competitive daily newspapers, Allen said in a statement.
“It would have been a tragedy to have outside interests control both newspapers in Anchorage,” said Allen.
His reference was to the Anchorage Daily News, a Pulitzer Prize-winning newspaper owned by the California-based McClatchy Newspapers group. The Times was once the dominant paper but is now No. 2 in circulation behind the News.
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