Notes On the News: Empire’s newsroom staff joins Juneau Independent; new board and nonprofit status established

Juneau Independent members (from left) Laurie Craig, Jasz Garrett, Rosemarie Alexander-Isett, Klas Stolpe, Mark Sabbatini, Ellie Ruel and Natalie Buttner. (Photo by Natalie Buttner)

Editor’s note: Since a news organization can’t realistically be expected to report on itself impartially, this announcement is appearing in this column with what hopefully is a minimal amount of puffery.

The Juneau Independent is debuting its 2.0 release as of Monday with a masthead featuring all six of the Juneau Empire’s newsroom staff as of earlier this year.

The Independent officially launched June 20. This month, it officially became a nonprofit corporation with an eight-member board of directors who have a range of community and news industry affiliations.

As such, the Independent’s bylaws, articles of incorporation and other publicly available information about the company will be available in the "About" section of the website.

"Notes on the News" will also provide updates about the Independent’s operational status.

During its first month, the Independent’s website had more than 50,000 page views from more than 20,000 unique visitors. Its Facebook page was by far the most active social media site with more than 500,000 views and 50,000 "engagements" (reactions, comments, shares).

The Independent has raised more than $60,000 from about 475 contributors, including 115 people making monthly "subscription" payments, as of July 20.

EDITORIAL STAFF

• Mark Sabbatini, editor: A journalist for 38 years in more than 60 countries on all seven continents for newspapers ranging from the Los Angeles Times to The Antarctic Sun. He was the managing editor of the Juneau Empire for the past two years before resigning in June to launch the Independent. He previously worked for the Empire as a reporter and editor from 1995 to 2006. This is his second newspaper launch, following the publication of Iceople, an English-language weekly, in the world’s northernmost town of Longyearbyen, Norway, for 13 years until 2021.

• Jasz Garrett, managing editor: A lifelong Juneau resident, Jasz had her first story published when she was 10 years old in the Juneau Empire's Capital City Weekly. She started her career as a broadcast journalist at News of the North, where she worked for two years before joining the Juneau Empire. She is majoring in English at the University of Alaska Southeast. She is also a published poet and owns a local photography business.

• Klas Stolpe, sports editor: Klas Stolpe, a sports reporter since the mid-1990s for the Petersburg Pilot, Wrangell Sentinel, Daily Sitka Sentinel, Ketchikan Daily News, Associated Press, Juneau Empire, KTOO, KINY, and numerous other publications statewide. He is this year’s Region V winner of the ASAA Gold Lifetime Pass, presented by the Alaska School Activities Association for “extraordinary contribution to high school activities in Alaska and/or at the national level.”

• Laurie Craig, special correspondent: A historical and feature writer who formerly worked as a naturalist and interpreter at the U.S. Forest Service’s Mendenhall Glacier Visitor Center. She also wrote the "Rooted In Community" series about Juneau’s historic landmarks, as well as other features for the Juneau Empire in recent years.

• Ellie Ruel, reporter: A sophomore at the University of Alaska Southeast and staff member of the Whalesong student newspaper, who also became a contributor to the Empire beginning in February of this year.

• Natalie Buttner, reporter/intern: An Alaska resident and junior at Barnard College in New York, who is in Juneau this summer through the Reinhart Richards Journalism Internship Program. She spent the first half of the summer as a reporter for the Empire before joining the Independent to complete her internship.

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

• Bruce Botelho, president: Former mayor of Juneau and Alaska attorney general under independent Gov. Wally Hickel and Democratic Gov. Tony Knowles.

• Jim Clark, vice president: Former chief of staff to Republican Gov. Frank Murkowski.

• Lori Thomson, secretary: Former managing editor of the Juneau Empire.

• Meilani Schijvens, treasurer: Owner of Rain Coast Data, a research and consulting firm specializing in economic analysis.

• Larry Persily: Publisher of the Wrangell Sentinel. Former Juneau Empire managing editor.

• Rosemarie Alexander-Isett: University of Alaska Southeast communications professor.

• Tena Williams: Publisher of the Ketchikan Daily News.

• Amy Bushatz: Founder and editor of Mat-Su Sentinel.