The Skagway News is once again looking for a new owner. Gretchen Wehmhoff bought the paper in 2020 and is now looking to sell.
“So back in 2019 the owner at the time, Larry Persily, decided to offer it to someone who was from Alaska, who he thought would care about the community,” Wehmhoff said. “And my friend at the time, Melinda (Munson), and I decided to apply.”
So the two journalists bought the paper in the spring of 2020. The price?
“Twenty dollars,” Wehmhoff said. “He was going to give it to us for free, but we thought we should give him something. You know, you have to give something. So we gave them $20 and that first check bounced.”
Persily, the former owner of The Skagway News, advertised the paper to multiple potential buyers around the country, but was looking for someone he could trust.
“I got talked into it, got new staff, got some equipment, tried to get it closer to break even and then decided I want to give it away,” Persily said. “I don’t want to run it. I just want to see it continue. And no one could afford to buy it. So the idea was, find someone who will run it, own it, love it, live in Skagway — and I’m essentially giving it away. Got about 140 inquiries from around the world, and picked a couple people from Alaska and turned it over to them.”
Persily has been involved in Alaska journalism for decades. He also owns the weekly newspaper in Wrangell, the Wrangell Sentinel. He says running a weekly newspaper is, “A lot of work, and no money.”
“They are economically challenging,” he added. “How’s that for a euphemism. They take seven days a week, a lot of stress, a lot of sweat, a lot of anguish, and they’re not profitable. Some pay their own way. Some don’t even do that. It’s tough.”
After five years of running the paper, Wehmhoff has made the difficult decision to sell.
“You know, if I had reporters that were freelance or free, I probably could keep going,”
Wehmhoff said. “But unless I can get some freelance writing that doesn’t cost any money, it’s kind of tough. I mean, I can make a choice. I can write or I can layout the paper. Or I could do the business end of the paper. But doing all three, and then not bringing in any income for myself has been hard on me financially, as well as health wise.”
But Wehmhoff remains optimistic, saying that she hopes the new owner has a lot of energy and is willing to listen.
“I think the biggest struggle will be to remember to go to Skagway and listen to Skagway,” she said. “To really, you know, pay attention to what Skagway needs and what Skagway wants. I hope that the idea of still being very inclusive of residents of Skagway is part of it. I think it’s really important that we still look at it that way, that it doesn’t just become an advertiser, but it maintains its beauty of being a small town paper.”
And Persily has the same hopes for his old business.
“I hope she can find someone who will live in Skagway, put out a good paper, find a way to pay the bills and really live happily ever after. That was my intent four years ago. Didn’t work out.”
With multiple setbacks of trying to run a weekly paper remotely through a pandemic, Wehmhoff says she has no regrets of owning The Skagway News.
“I don’t regret for a second my decision to get involved with Skagway News,” she said. “Every single time there, it has been one of the most adventurous and exciting and challenging five years. Whether I was sick and I couldn’t do something, or whether it was emotionally draining, I do not regret for a second my decision to become an owner of The Skagway News. It’s been a real pleasure and joy. And I’d do it again.”
Wehmhoff said she will publish a formal press release in the near future.