Frontiersman Newspaper Acquired by Mat-Su Sentinel
The Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman office building and its next-door printing press continue to be held by Arizona-based Wick Communications.
Photo Credit: Alaska Business
One year shy of its 80th birthday, the Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman is ceasing operations. A community news staple, the Frontiersman was purchased by nonprofit community news organization, Mat-Su Sentinel. The change essentially spells the demise of the Frontiersman— the May 29 edition was the final printing. All news going forward will be attributed to Mat-Su Sentinel; the Frontiersman, as such, will no longer be publishing digitally or in print.
Putting the Paper in Local Hands
The Frontiersman has been publishing news about the Matanuska-Susitna Borough since 1947. Since 1996, it has been operated by Wick Communications, a mostly Midwestern newspaper group started in 1926 by brothers Milton and James Wick, who purchased the Ohio paper Niles Daily Times for $6,750. Today the company is based in Sierra Vista, Arizona. It has sold several papers in the past six months, beginning with the January sale of six newspapers serving communities in Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Minnesota to North Dakota-based Forum Communications. In April it sold its Colorado operations—including two newspapers, the Montrose Daily Press and the Delta County Independent, which both date to the 1880s—to Grand Junction Media. Nineteen publications, most in Arizona and a few in Washington and Oregon, are still listed on Wick’s website.
Current Issue
June 2026
Wick Communications leaders announced in January 2025 they were considering selling the Frontiersman, stating, “Interested parties who recognize the importance of preserving the voice of the Mat-Su Valley are encouraged to consider this exceptional opportunity.”
Amy Bushatz, founder and editor of Mat-Su Sentinel, more than fits the bill. Mat-Su Sentinel is a free community news publication funded by grants and community donations that Bushatz started in June 2024 with the goal of providing “connect-the-dots local reporting” for the growing Mat-Su community.
“We’re excited for the opportunity to carry the Frontiersman’s legacy forward into a new era of local journalism,” Bushatz says.
“We could not have found a better successor. The Mat-Su Sentinel is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization dedicated entirely to serving the Matanuska-Susitna Valley. Their mission is rooted in helping residents stay informed and connected through fact-based, community-focused reporting on local government, schools, public safety, and community life,” Wick CEO Josh O’Connor says. “Wick has proudly owned and operated the Frontiersman since 1996, making this transition incredibly meaningful for our longstanding local readers, subscribers, and advertisers who have supported us for decades. Above all, it returns the stewardship and future of the Frontiersman to local Alaskan hands.”
Stewarding Valley History
The Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman, printed since 1947, saw its final paper edition on May 29, 2026. Upstart local news nonprofit Mat-Su Sentinel purchased the brand, effective June1.
Photo Credit: Alaska Business
The purchase only applies to the Frontiersman newspaper, trademark, branding materials, archives, and its sister publication Anchorage Press, a former alt-weekly publication that stopped printing in late 2022.
The Frontiersman office building and production facility on the Palmer-Wasilla Highway—and the press operations within it—will stay under Wick control.
Subscribers of the Frontiersman will not be getting the newspaper delivered to their driveway, but the news organization’s website is now open to the public, meaning stories dating back as far as 2002 are now available to read without a paywall.
Stewarding the newspaper’s history is something Bushatz is treating carefully. For now, the Frontiersman website will remain up as-is, but Bushatz plans to migrate it to a different platform that is not focused on subscriptions. People who visit the site may see current news stories which, when clicked, will redirect them to the Mat-Su Sentinel website.
“Our goal is for the website to look a lot like what you’re seeing right now. But the homepage will be redirected to Mat-Su Sentinel so you can find the news headlines readily,” Bushatz says.
Asked why the Frontiersman is being absorbed into the Mat-Su Sentinel instead of vice versa, Bushatz says the choice comes down to baggage. The longtime community newspaper was not a small organization; making it fit the mold of a community nonprofit news organization was just not practical.
“We’ve built something that can be nimble from a business perspective; the goal is to keep it that way. The best way I have found to do that is to migrate the Frontiersman as a brand coming into the Sentinel today,” Bushatz explains. “I don’t want people to think I’m erasing their history—I feel really responsible for their history.”
The newspaper’s physical history is part of the sale. While the online archives are now free to peruse, the Frontiersman’s physical archives of bound books for each year of print, photograph negatives, and other history are being held by Bushatz until she can find a proper caretaker. The Mat-Su Sentinel plans to donate the historic newspaper and photo archive to a local museum or library, but those details are also still being worked out.
Bushatz says the Mat-Su Sentinel will continue operating as a nonprofit, nonpartisan journalism source. The publication does not print editorials or commentary. She’s interested in boosting its advertising and is currently working with the Mat-Su Borough to work out what the change means for the required publication of meeting notices and other public notices.
Although the political election season is looming on the horizon—a season many traditional news organizations look forward to because it brings an influx of money from political and issue ads—Bushatz says candidates and issue-backers will have to look elsewhere to hype their cause; she’s strictly nonpartisan even when it comes to advertising.
The Mat-Su Sentinel has two employees: Bushatz and Growth Manager Sophie Komornicki, a Palmer-based news audience expert. Contributing to its news lineup are veteran journalist Matt Tunseth and recent UAA graduate Kyle Ivacic.
The Frontiersman operated with a staff of four: Managing Editor Jeremiah Bartz, reporter Katie Stavick, Multimedia Marketing Consultant Ben Borg, and Production Manager Lynn Werel. Decisions about ongoing staff are still being made.
