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Jake Dye had been the lone news reporter at the Peninsula Clarion in Kenai for three years until his resignation last night, September 29. He is the great-grandson of the former mayor of Kenai James Dye and has deep roots in the city on both sides of his family. He graduated from UAA's journalism program in 2022 and shortly thereafter began work at the Clarion. We discuss the difficulties of being a new reporter isolated in such a small newsroom, what happened at the Homer News this past week, and his decision to resign.

Context for today's episode:

On September 10, conservative political organizer Charlie Kirk was assassinated while speaking at Utah Valley University. On September 17, hundreds of mourners gathered on the beach in Homer to remember the slain activist at a memorial service partially organized by Alaska State House Representative Sarah Vance. Homer News journalist Chloe Pleznak attended that outdoor memorial service, live streamed parts of it, and wrote a story about it that appeared in the September 25th edition of the paper. Rep. Vance took offense to the coverage provided by Pleznak. In a September 25th letter to the Executive Vice President of Sound Publishing John Carr and the CEO of Carpenter Media Tim Prince, the corporate owners of Homer News, she expressed her outrage, calling out the use of terms such as "far right" and "Christian nationalist" as prejudicial labels. She went on to highlight what she considers to be the “historic bias” of the Homer News and stated that: “this article represents the peak of a long-standing pattern of left-wing slant.” She concluded by warning that if the paper continues its partisan spin, “the consequence will be financial as well as reputational.”

The result was that Carpenter Media removed Pleznak’s article from the Homer News website and later replaced it with an edited version that removed Pleznak’s byline. 

The social media commentary in both conservative and progressive circles was fierce, with folks on the right arguing that the Homer News should be ashamed of its biased coverage, and with those on the left arguing that the unauthorized editing of Pleznak’s article without input from either her or her editor Erin Thompson was un-American censorship. On Monday, September 29, Chloe Pleznak, Erin Thompson, and our guest Jake Dye resigned from their papers.

EXCERPTS FROM REP. VANCE LETTER (read full letter here):

'Dear Mr. Carr,

'I am writing to express my outrage over the article, "Homer holds vigil for Charlie Kirk," published in the Homer News on Tuesday, September 3, 2025.

'The piece is not journalism, but rather it is hate-baiting at its worst . . .

'From the opening paragraphs, reporter Chloe Pleznac branded Charlie Kirk with prejudicial labels such as "far-right" and "Christian-Nationalist icon," while smearing his views as "racist," "controversial," and "conspiracy theories." These are not facts; they are editorial judgements and political talking points. . . .

'And let me be clear, this is not an isolated lapse. The historic bias of the Homer News is widely recognized in the community, and this article represents the peak of a long-standing pattern of left-wing slant. . . .

'If the paper continues to treat community events as opportunities for partisan spin, the consequence will be financial as well as reputational. . . .

'I urge you to take immediate corrective action.'