A Newspaper for Nowt

Alaska newspaper offered for sale; the “unbeatable price” of $0 provides indication of the decline of the printed press

Yesterday, The Guardian reported that a man who’d bought a local newspaper in the Klondike Gold Rush national historic park in April is now trying to offload it for absolutely nothing.

Larry Persily, described as a “longtime journalist,” is supposedly “willing to give away [a] small-town paper [named the Skagway News] to a multi-talented professional who can ensure it a bright future.”

He told the paper:

“I reached a conclusion. The owner, the editor, the reporter, the publisher, the subscription-taker has got to be the same person, who is part of the community, lives there year-round. I don’t care about the money as much as I’d like it to survive.”

Of the benefits to whomever takes him up on his offer, he added that he believes they’ll be able to pay themselves £37,000 per year ($50,000, €45,000 or درهم184,000 per year) and remarked:

“They’ll be able to eat and clothe themselves and have cable TV. Will they be able to afford a second home in Barbados? I don’t think so.”

With local and even national newspapers such as The Telegraph in decline across the globe, one has to wonder if this is actually such a good offer.

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