Like a dog with a chew toy in its mouth, the liberals refuse to give up on the Chloe Pleznac story. This time, it was a bunch of Karens from the Alaska Press Club who published an op-ed in the Anchorage Daily News alleging Plezanc’s departure from the Homer News verged on government censorship and was an example of a publisher meddling in the rights of a paper’s editorial control. Of course, these allegations are nothing more than rank hypocrisy, and one wonders if there is more to them; perhaps they are using the issue to conduct an attack on a member of the Alaska legislature for partisan purposes.
To summarize their issue, after Charlie Kirk’s death, a young reporter working for the Homer News named Chloe Pleznac wrote a story about a memorial held in Homer. Ms. Pleznac used some disparaging language to describe Mr. Kirk. Alaska State Rep. Sarah Vance (R-Homer) pointed this out to the Carpenter Media Group, which publishes the Homer News. They quickly revised the story without Pleznac’s consent. Pleznac made a mistake, it was corrected, and that should have been the end of the story, but when Pleznac found out about the editorial revision, like a petulant child, she quit her job in a huff. Three other members of peer newspapers owned by the publisher in Alaska also resigned in solidarity.
Sensing an opportunity, the Alaska Press Club wrote their op-ed and spent most of their piece attacking the right of Carpenter Media to control the editorial narrative in publications they own. They also took a snide shot at Rep Vance, hinting that this was a First Amendment violation on her part.
The Alaska Press Club is losing the ability to control what we read and think … They are losing control, and they don’t like it.
First, the constitutional issue. The First Amendment says Congress shall pass no law…abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press. Rep Vance did not attempt to restrict their ability to publish the news. She simply pointed out an error, which was corrected. Liberal press organizations may not like it, but Rep Vance has the same right to speak freely as they do, and nothing Rep Vance did rises to the level of a First Amendment violation.
Now the hypocrisy. Simultaneously with this local tempest in a teapot, there were examples of real violations of the First Amendment that the Alaska Press Club has been totally silent about.
The Biden Administration asked Google and Facebook to censor their critics. Both companies have admitted doing so. Those were overt examples of First Amendment violations with the intent to quiet opponents. The Alaska Press Club said nothing about it.
More recently, it has been revealed that the Biden administration secretly obtained the telephone records of Senators, including Alaska’s Dan Sullivan. These actions were taken as part of the “Arctic Frost” investigation conducted by special counsel Jack Smith. The right of these senators to speak freely was attacked by the Biden administration, and again, the Alaska Press Club was completely silent.
Another example from last week is from TV journalist Ed Henry, who was also spied on during the “Arctic Frost” investigation. His crime? Henry produced a charity song entitled “Justice for All” and donated the proceeds to the J6 prisoners. That was enough for Jack Smith to investigate Henry’s actions. Again, a member of the press was attacked by a secret investigation, and the Alaska Press Club was totally silent.
ALASKA WATCHMAN DIRECT TO YOUR INBOX
If the Alaska Press Club was truly concerned about preserving the Constitutional rights of others, they would have spoken out loudly when these obvious First Amendment violations occurred, and yet they said nothing. Instead, they are attacking a member of our legislature they don’t like and a publisher who has an editorial policy no longer in lock step with the partisan left.
The truth of the matter is that newspapers are a dying industry. Increasingly, people are switching to online alternatives that do not include their editorial bias. The Alaska Press Club is losing the ability to control what we read and think. That is the reason for their op-ed. They are losing control, and they don’t like it. Similar to reporter Pleznac, they are like a bunch of children throwing a tantrum because they can no longer get what they want, and they are unhappy about it.
The views expressed here are those of Greg Sarber. Read more Sarber posts at his Seward’s Folly substack.
6 Comments
Speaking of First Amendment violations the Alaska Press Club has been totally silent about, how about the “Must Read Alaska” saga where apparently all it took was a word from former Attorney General and Peoples’ Gubernatorial Candidate Treg Taylor to force Suzanne Downing out?
(https://www.ktoo.org/2025/09/11/alaskas-top-conservative-writer-explains-why-she-left-the-website-she-founded/)
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Or is this horror relevant only when it’s imposed on the delicate sensitivities of junior Leftists whose journalistic capacity is self-limited to disparaging Charley Kirk and his followers?
Greg, just ignore the Alaska Press Club, most of us do. Like petulant children, every time they want attention they’ll start whining.
Spot on. It’s only an outrage when it exposes the insane left. Anything else is “nothing to see here.”
“In America, in this period of world history, an independent press does not exist. You know it and I know it. There is none of you who would dare to write your own true opinions, and you already know in advance that if you did they would never be published. I am paid once a week to keep my honest views out of the newspaper I deal with. Others of you are similarly paid for similar things, and those of you who were crazy enough to write honest opinions would soon find themselves on the street looking for another job. If I allowed my true opinions to appear in an issue of my newspaper, my job would be liquidated before twenty-four hours.
The journalist’s job is to destroy the truth, to shamelessly lie, to bribe, to defame, to wag his tail at the feet of wealth, and to sell his country and its people for its daily bread, me too. So, what madness is this to toast to an independent press? We are the tools and vassals of rich men behind the scenes. We are puppets, they pull the strings and we dance. Our talents, our possibilities, our lives, are all the property of others. We are intellectual prostitutes. ” John Swinton 1880
What defines an “independent press”, total independence from government and corporate interests?
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In this period of world history, how does an independent press reach and keep readers, and keep the lights on, without corporate or government sponsorship?
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If you know, in this period of world history, how interconnected businesses and governments and readers can be, doesn’t it make sense to figure out how your writing could affect your sponsors, vendors, webmasters, readers, and publishers and how you can tailor it to get your message out?
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In other words, could what you’re saying actually explain why Alaska’s mainstream media’s circling the drain?
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If the employer pays employees and directs them, as a condition of their job, to keep their honest opinions out of the paper, but they disobey, is that not deliberate insubordination for which the employee can be fired?
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Bottom line is it might be helpful to understand what’s meant by “independent press” before giving up completely on the concept.
As a make believe journalist, you really don’t understand the ethics of newspaper publishing. The story was changed after publication with no attribution as to who made the changes, why the changes were made, and what the original story got wrong. The local editor and reporter were not informed that the changes would be made or given an opportunity to make changes in the original story. Vance wrote the letter to the publisher rather than the editor or reporter because she was looking for what she believed was a more accommodating ear. She also wrote on official legislative stationary, implying that she had the power to cause problems for the owner. Your grievance laden whining is getting old.