• by Sara Guaglione , August 16, 2017

Alaska Dispatch News is filing for Chapter 11 protection under federal bankruptcy law. Publisher Alice Rogoff is handing over the reigns to “a group of lifelong Alaskans who have come together to save the ADN during this interim time,” according to a note published Sunday on ADN's site, penned by Ryan Binkley and Jason Evans, who are leading the group.

Binkley is a fourth-generation riverboat captain who has led his family business,The Riverboat Discovery and Gold Dredge 8, in Fairbanks for the last 11 years.

Evans is the president of Rural Energy Enterprises and the owner of Alaska Media LLC, which owns three newspapers in rural Alaska.

Binkley and Evans wrote in the memo: “This weekend, we made a bold first step to ensure the future of the Alaska Dispatch News going forward. At the same time, the paper has filed for bankruptcy protection, we've entered an agreement to purchase the ADN and immediately take control of the operations of the paper, beginning Sunday.”

While Rogoff technically still owns the site — through Alaska Dispatch News LLC — while it files for bankruptcy, the Binkley/Evans group is managing the company.

Rogoff wrote in a memo: “I am acutely sad to be handing off the stewardship of this great newspaper, while relieved that under new ownership, the Dispatch will live on, hopefully for years to come.”

In 2014, ADN acquired Alaska’s largest newspaper, the Anchorage Daily News, from McClatchy. But according to ADN, Binkley said Monday the business lost $4 million in the first six months of 2017.

He told staff he would focus on increasing revenue and reducing expenses, but did not specify if this would include layoffs.

Rogoff wrote: “Like newspapers everywhere, the struggle to make ends meet financially eventually caught up with us. I simply ran out of my ability to subsidize this great news product.”

ADN will "emerge" from the bankruptcy process "in a short time," she added, and will soon be "able to navigate these challenging economic times in a stronger position.”