How an Alaska news nonprofit bought the local newspaper it was founded to compete with

The Mat-Su Sentinel, a nonprofit news organization founded in 2024 by Amy Bushatz, acquired the Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman, an 80-year-old local newspaper, this week. Bushatz, a former executive editor of Military.com, established the Sentinel to address a perceived gap in local reporting in the Matanuska-Susitna Valley of Alaska, focusing on local government. Within 14 months of its launch, the Sentinel received the New LION Business of the Year Award from LION Publishers, a trade group for local independent online news outlets. A judge praised the Sentinel's infrastructure, growth planning, diversified funding, journalism, and operational efficiency. The acquisition of the Frontiersman marks a significant achievement for the Sentinel, transitioning the incumbent paper back to local ownership under a nonprofit model. Bushatz viewed the Frontiersman not as a competitor but as a valuable community asset, aiming to integrate its legacy into a sustainable nonprofit framework.