| Type | Semi-weekly newspaper |
|---|---|
| Format | Broadsheet |
| Owner | Wick Communications |
| Publisher | Kari Sleight |
| Headquarters | 5751 E. Mayflower Ct. Wasilla, AK 99654 United States |
| Official website | frontiersman.com |
The Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman is a newspaper serving the Matanuska-Susitna Valley of Alaska. It is owned by Wick Communications, publishing every Tuesday, Friday, and Sunday. Future governor and vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin worked for the newspaper as a sports reporter.[1]
On December 18, 1996, the Frontiersman ran a story that reported on various issues regarding Wasilla Library's book challenge policy, and Sarah Palin's queries to Wasilla Library Director Mary Ellen Emmons, which Palin said were "discussions with her department heads about understanding and following administration agendas", while Emmons "drew a clear distinction...between the nature of Palin's inquiries and an established book-challenge policy in place in Wasilla, and in most public libraries."[2] The article printed parts of Palin's written statement, "Many issues were discussed, both rhetorical and realistic in nature". It reported on Emmons' attempts to bring "the book-challenge policies of the Wasilla Library and of the Palmer City Library in line with the Mat-Su Borough policy,"[2]
The story was widely reported in 2008.[3][4]
While news agencies made claims about lack of verifiability of the allegations that arose as a result of the story, the original story's reporting is not a matter of controversy.
The story was reprinted on September 5, 2008, "to accommodate numerous requests for the story from media worldwide and curious individuals. Please note that not at any time were any books ever banned from the Wasilla city library."
The Frontiersman conducted an email interview with Sarah Palin in September 2008; the fourteen questions and their answers were published in full on September 30. Questions varied in scope from her early years in Wasilla government to her 2008 vice-presidential candidacy ("...does the public have a legitimate interest in the private lives of candidates?"[5]