The Nome Nugget is a weekly newspaper published on Thursdays in Nome, Alaska, United States and serves the entire Northwest region of Alaska, additionally, it is printed in Anchorage, Alaska for newsstands and airports. It was awarded best weekly newspaper in all of Alaska in 2012 by the Alaska Press Club. It is an independent newspaper which is currently owned by the Nugget Publishing Corp. which itself is owned by Diana Haecker and Nils Hahn. The Nome Nugget is Alaska's oldest newspaper.
Origins of the Nome Nugget
While the Nome Nugget may be accepted as the oldest newspaper in Alaska, exactly how old it is has been in dispute. While the newspaper officially claims that it was established in 1897, the Library of Congress cites it as being established in 1900, and other Alaska-based organizations claim it is from 1938. According to the Alaska State Library the first newspaper in Nome was the Nome News, established in 1899, In 1900 the name was changed the Nome Daily News and then back to the Nome News by 1904. In 1903, the publishing company at the time, Nome News Pub. Co., produced a supplemental newspaper entitled the Hell Whooper. It only ran for one issue on April 17. The name changed again in 1906 to the Nome Daily Nugget under a similarly named but different owner, Nome Pub. Co. In 1918 it was changed to the Nome Tri-Weekly Nugget, in 1919 it was changed to the Nome Nugget, and in 1934 back to the Nome Daily Nugget. In 1938 the paper's name changed for the final time back to the Nome Nugget. In 1982 current editor Nancy McGuire purchased the Nome Nugget from Nome Pub. Co. and named her company the Nugget Publishing Corporation. Since McGuire's death in 2016 the Nugget Publishing Corporation has been handled by her estate. Currently, parties are negotiating for the purchasing of the business.
Distribution
The Nome Nugget produces approximately 6,000 papers per issue and reaches a total of 24,000 readers just from the paper copies. Additionally, the Nome Nugget is delivered to every state in the United States via subscriptions. The Nome Nugget is the primary news source for news in the city of Nome and in the 15 surrounding communities in the Northwest region of Alaska. This includes Barrow, Point Hope, Kotzebue, and the NANA region. According to the newspaper, “Nome is the logistical and economical hub for the surrounding 15 Bering Strait and Norton Sound communities that are off the road system.” It is the only news outlet with reach to nearly every village in the region. They include Little Diomede, Shishmaref, Wales, Brevig Mission, Teller, Solomon, Council, White Mountain, Golovin, Elim, Koyuk, Shaktoolik, Unalakleet, St. Michaels, and Stebbins. The online version of the newspaper is read by over 4,000 online users.
