Skagway News owner Larry Persily is looking to pass the torch and, to the right candidate, he’s offering to give the paper away.
“If I can find the right person, I’ll give it over to them for free,” Persily said. “It’s what’s best for the paper, and best for the town.”
Persily, who publishes the paper from Anchorage where he is currently a visiting journalism professor at the University of Alaska Anchorage, said he isn’t able to spend as much time in Skagway as he originally hoped.
“Long term, if the Skagway News is going to survive and thrive, it needs an owner editor who lives in the town, who is involved in the community and who edits the local newspaper, not an absentee owner who every year or two has to find a new reporter to cover meetings and basketball games,” Persily said.
He said the right candidate needs to not only have a background in journalism, but also needs to understand small-town reporting, and have a commitment to the Skagway community. He’d prefer to pass the paper to someone from Southeast. The current reporter in Skagway gave notice that he’s leaving, and Persily is now looking for a replacement, ideally someone willing to take ownership.
“My plan would be to help them, help in any way I can with background and information, maybe money if that becomes an issue. It’s not like I’m going away, but given that I have to find a new editor, it’s a good time to see if there’s an editor-owner out there. If not I’ll just hire another editor and play publisher from afar.”
Persily purchased the newspaper in April from Canadian Chris Sorg, who sold it for health reasons.
He said a potential owner is “not going to make a lot of money, but I think they could live.”
Persily, 68, owned the Wrangell Sentinel from 1976 to 1984, reported for the Associated Press, Anchorage Daily News, Juneau Empire and the Petroleum News. He’s worked as a chief of staff for the Kenai Peninsula Borough, legislative staffer, deputy commissioner for the Alaska Department of Revenue and ran the federal office for the Alaska Gas Line Project.