Cancel culture, it turns out, is conservative

It's Friday, Alaska.

In this edition: Leave it to Homer Republican Rep. Sarah Vance to take issue with a local paper describing a man who once said Black women like U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson do not have "the brain processing power to be taken seriously” as holding “racist and controversial views" and jump on the Conservative Cancel Culture train. And leave it to shady corporate media ownership without any connection to Alaska to readily cave to her threats of financial consequences. It's a grim look at the state of Free Speech in Alaska and one that a local journalist called "a heinous dereliction of our duty." Also, the reading list and weekend watching.

Current mood: 😡 

Update: I got a note from a reader that Kirk's quote on how Black women like U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson "do not have the brain processing power to be taken seriously.” He didn't say "Black women do not have the brain processing power to be taken seriously," but instead he listed off a bunch of specific Black women like the U.S. Supreme Court Justice, Michelle Obama and others, and then said, "You do not have the brain processing power to otherwise be taken really seriously. You had to go steal a white person's slot to go be taken somewhat seriously."

Cancel culture, it turns out, is conservative

Homer GOP Rep. Sarah Vance – a Christian nationalist lawmaker who made headlines last year for complaining that white women weren’t properly recognized at a hearing about tribal justice – this week joined the fervent movement of Republicans using the death of right-wing activist Charlie Kirk to silence others.

Vance used her official office to tattle on the Homer News, complaining to its ownership that the coverage of a Charlie Kirk vigil she organized didn’t adequately whitewash the inflammatory influencer’s rhetoric. While the original article brought in some important context to understanding Kirk’s place in American politics, for Vance, the description of a man who once said Black women don't have "the brain processing power to be taken seriously” when talking about Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson as holding “racist and controversial views” was a bridge too far.

“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,’” Vance wrote on a letter printed on official legislative stationery and posted to her official Facebook account. “These are not facts, they are editorial judgments and political talking points. If the intent was to write an opinion piece, it should have been clearly marked as such.”

While Vance takes issue with the label “Christian nationalist” as prejudicial, it’s important to note that Vance is quite literally a charter member of the National Association of Christian Lawmakers, a group whose focus is on injecting their brand of hard-right Christianity into government and American life. She also hired a fellow NACL charter member behind one of the strictest abortion bans in the country to work in her legislative office despite having no connection to Alaska.

Rev. Schultz is on a mission to reclaim Christianity from Christian nationalism - The Alaska Current

As the nation hurtles toward election day, Anchorage First Presbyterian Rev. Matt Schultz is warning about a decades-old identity theft scam: Christian nationalism.

The Alaska Current - The Alaska CurrentMatt Acuña Buxton

As with much of the right-wing push to punish teachers, professors, reporters and everyday people for not looking past the racist and xenophobic words of Kirk, Vance made clear that she’s using Kirk's tragic death (no one should murder anyone, for the record) to settle long-standing grudges with the local paper by accusing it of “long-standing pattern of left-wing slant” that “reflects a deeper editorial culture that has eroded trust in your publication for years.”

And then, with a “I’m not literally threatening you with a boycott, I'm just talking about one, so don't write in the papers that I'm threatening a boycott” kind of plausible deniability, she said there would be consequences if the paper and its reporters don't get with the program and align with her idea of fair reporting.

“The consequence will be financial as well as reputational,” she said of the paper’s coverage of the Kirk vigil, demanding the paper review the reporter’s body of work and silence that kind of reporting in the future. “The future credibility of the Homer News and its advertising base depends on it.”

The condescending finger wagging isn’t anything new for Vance, who, in her first year in office, used her official Facebook account to attack students who had sent her handwritten notes asking her to support their schools. Scoffing at the fact that they didn’t use her proper title of “representative” in the seven-minute video, she questioned whether public schools were worth the funding.

However, unlike her chiding of high school students and tribal justice presenters, for which Vance had to ultimately apologize, it appears that this time it worked.

The Homer News' ownership, Sound Publishing and its parent company, Carpenter Media, got the message, and the story was removed from the site altogether on Thursday. It would later appear with several sections inexplicably removed, along with the writer's byline missing altogether. It also lacked the kind of note that ought to come with such harsh treatment of a reporter's work.

It's also worth noting that Carpenter Media appears to be following the Sinclair Broadcasting Group's playbook of acquiring and consolidating legacy media under conservative ownership. Sinclair led the charge on cancelling late-night host Jimmy Kimmel for the sin of pointing out that conservatives would likely use Kirk's death to silence people who aren't conservative enough.

Sinclair gets nothing it asked for, puts Jimmy Kimmel back on anyway

Sorry, Brendan Carr: Sinclair and Nexstar stop preempting Kimmel on ABC affiliates.

Ars TechnicaJon Brodkin

To put it simply, it hasn't gone over well with reporters on the Peninsula. Jake Dye, a reporter at the Peninsula Clarion (which is also in the web of Carpenter Media), has been vocal on Bluesky about how capitulating to Vance (who has been taking a victory lap for successfully canceling the paper over the coverage) has been a slap in the face to reporters.

"Carpenter Media, without consultation with our newsrooms, pulled this story from the website today. A heinous dereliction of our duty and a cowardly move from the company who says they’re so invested in local news," he wrote, adding, "It remains to be said that this story was completely accurate and no correction was issued. ... I don’t know what the corporate overlords from Carpenter Media said to Vance, but it certainly was a failure to uphold our integrity or to support the talented reporter and editor who worked on this story."

Amen.

Why it matters: Beyond the horrible irony of using the death of a free speech advocate to stifle the speech of others with the weight of an official elected office, it's another reminder of the perils of media conglomerates. Carpenter Media has been actively acquiring newspapers nationwide and swiftly gutting them, resulting in the layoffs of scores of reporters and a decline in authentic local coverage for communities. It's also why truly independent coverage, such as this newsletter, The Mat-Su Sentinel, and The Juneau Independent, which are all driven by small contributions and the passion of people who believe in clear-eyed coverage of their communities, is an essential piece of the landscape moving forward. Perhaps it's time for Kenai to get its own independent outlet, free from kowtowing ownership.

More: Original Homer News story, updated Homer News story, Vance's threatening post

Reading list

EPA cancels $280M in Biden-era grants to Alaska communities

The agency has created new streams of money to benefit rural Alaska, but affected villages are skeptical it will help.

Anchorage Daily NewsAlex DeMarban

Alaskans rally as Tongass protections face another rollback - The Alaska Current

“It’s like walking into one of the most beautiful cathedrals you’ll ever see in the world.” That’s how President Joel Jackson of the Organized Village of Kake described the Tongass National Forest at last week’s Roadless Rally in Juneau. But once again, the Tongass — America’s largest national forest, and one that protects nearly three-quarters

The Alaska Current - The Alaska CurrentRachel Levy

Judge tosses nurse’s convictions for overprescribing opioids, as Kindred fallout continues

Kindred resigned in July of 2024, leaving dozens of criminal cases up for review for possible conflicts of interest.

Anchorage Daily NewsCasey Grove, Alaska Public Media

Treg Taylor still has to disclose his business connections, campaign regulators find - The Alaska Current

The Alaska Public Offices Commission isn’t letting former Attorney General Treg Taylor skirt the state’s financial disclosure rules as he enters the race for governor. At least for now. The commission issued an order last week that allows Taylor to use an alternative method to report his business dealings at an Anchorage apartment building

The Alaska Current - The Alaska CurrentMatt Acuña Buxton

More than 25,000 Alaskans will see health insurance costs skyrocket under Trump’s ‘Big Beautiful Bill’ - The Alaska Current

Many of the most disastrous elements of Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill were designed to kick in only after the 2026 elections, sparing Republicans like Alaska U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan and U.S. Rep. Nick Begich from facing the full impact of their votes to slash spending on Medicaid, food stamps and other social safety net programs.

The Alaska Current - The Alaska CurrentMatt Acuña Buxton

Anchorage police adopt AI to analyze investigative data

This is the first time APD has officially adopted AI software for department use, police chief Sean Case said.

AKPMWesley Early

Funding for a UAF critical minerals project has been frozen since February

Researchers are worried about running out of time and losing matched funding from the state.

AKPMShelby Herbert

Weekend watching

Nerdy and pedantic are two of my favorite categories of YouTube videos, and few do it better than Any Austin, who here breaks out a physical copy of California's 1,200-page manual on uniform traffic control devices to go over the sign usage in 2013 hit "Grand Theft Auto V."

Have a nice weekend, y'all and don't use your official government position to threaten people over their constitutionally protected speech.