The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner named a new publisher Tuesday, the same day the sale of the newspaper and its sister paper the Kodiak Daily Mirror to the nonprofit Helen E. Snedden Foundation closed.
Fuller Cowell, who grew up in Fairbanks and has worked in the newspaper industry for years, is the new publisher of the News-Miner, effective immediately.
Cowell, originally from Kentucky, started his newspaper career as a carrier for the News-Miner at the age of 9. In 1979, he started working for the McClatchy Co. as a consultant and later in various other roles, eventually becoming director of operations. In 1993, he became publisher of the Anchorage Daily News, which was then a McClatchy newspaper. He left in 1999 to battle leukemia.
He and his wife Christmas have also operated the Cordova Times and the Valdez Vanguard, both weekly newspapers. Cowell said he doesn't have any plans for big, immediate changes at the News-Miner.
"The trick is to get input from the employees about what they're doing now, what's going good, what isn't going so good, and developing plans that most people would characterize as minor tweaks," he said. "I don't want (employees) to look for any dramatic moves."
The change comes as the newspaper's corporate structure is shifting under ownership of the Fairbanks-based Snedden Foundation.
Virginia Farmier, trustee of the Snedden Foundation, said in December that no major changes were planned for the News-Miner or the Daily Mirror.
She wanted to bring on Cowell because of his roots in the Fairbanks area.
"We've known each other for a long time before this ever came into the picture," Farmier said. "Wanting a local paper … I wanted to get some people (familiar) with the history of Fairbanks."
Farmier said that Marti Buscaglia, the News-Miner's former publisher, will hopefully stay on at the company in some capacity, though what that might be isn't clear. Cowell said that Buscaglia is considering a job as head of a new marketing department at the newspaper.
"A change in publisher is common in an ownership change and it was not unexpected," Buscaglia, who is currently on vacation, said in an email. She took over as publisher at the News-Miner in May 2014. "I wish Fuller and the News-Miner the very best," she said.
The price the Snedden Foundation paid for the newspapers has not been disclosed.