Welcome to The Midnight Sun Memo, an offshoot project of The Midnight Sun political blog’s editor Matt Buxton, who you might also know as the gif guy from 2012 #akleg Twitter and long-time political reporter of the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner.
I’ve been reporting, writing, tweeting, occasionally podcasting and thinking about Alaska politics, the Alaska Legislature and state government for a decade. It’s had its ups and downs and after a 2020 that felt like a lot of downs, I’ve been looking for new ways to be excited about writing, breaking down politics and answering the question “Why does this matter?”
That’s where The Midnight Sun Memo comes in. I’ll be using this space to write about issues and ideas that haven’t felt like a great fit for the blog format, break down relevant news that I usually wouldn’t have the time to report out myself and talk about the nitty gritty of the Alaska Legislature… as well as a few other ideas in the works.
OK, so what’s the plan?
Thanks to input from some dear friends, I’ll be producing week ahead and week in review posts on Monday and Fridays (Friday in the Sun isn’t going anywhere) as well as premium daily updates throughout the week that will either serve as recaps and breakdowns on the news or, on slower days, deep dives into interesting issues.
I look forward to the path ahead as well as hearing from you on what you’d like to see covered and where we can go from here.