Anchorage Times

The Anchorage Times was a daily newspaper published in Anchorage, Alaska that became known for the pro-business political stance of longtime publisher and editor, Robert Atwood. Competition from the McClatchy-owned Anchorage Daily News forced it out of business in 1992.

The Anchorage Times was founded by Ted Needham and L. Frank Shaw as the Pioneer-News. The first issue, an advertisement-heavy "extra" edition, was published on May 27, 1915 and distributed without charge. The headline story was "Status of the New Townsite." It was the first newspaper published in the town, which was not yet formally known as "Anchorage." Regular weekly publication, as the Cook Inlet Pioneer and Knik News began on June 5, 1915 and daily publication began in October using equipment purchased from the defunct Cordova Daily Alaskan. The paper was sold to Charlie Herron in the spring of 1916, and on May 24 changed its name to The Anchorage Daily Times & Cook Inlet Pioneer. On May 29, 1917, it became the Anchorage Daily Times. In December 1924, it was sold to cover debts to a group headed by Bank of Alaska president Edward A. Rasmuson and Jacob B. Gottstein.

In June 1935, 28-year-old Robert Bruce Atwood, Edward Rasmuson's son-in-law, arrived in Anchorage from Worcester, Massachusetts. Atwood had been brought to Alaska by Rasmuson to assume the position of editor-publisher of the paper, which at that time had a circulation of 650. He would hold the position until 1990.

During the war years, Anchorage's population swelled from less than 8,000 to over 43,000, overtaking Fairbanks as Alaska's largest city, and making the Times Alaska's largest daily newspaper.

In 1947, Alaska territorial governor Ernest Gruening appointed Atwood to chair the Alaska Statehood Committee. In Atwood's hands, the Anchorage Daily Times became a prominent voice for statehood.

A rival, the Anchorage Daily News, began publishing in 1948, having begun as a weekly two years earlier. Although initially more of an editorial challenge than a competitive threat, the contest would influence the course of both newspapers over the next few decades. In 1974, the Times and the Daily News entered into a joint operating agreement in order to reduce costs. Later that year, the Times would begin issuing a Sunday edition. The Daily News had been publishing Sundays since 1965.

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