One of the things that I’ll invariably bring up when talking shop about Alaska’s media landscape over a few too many beers is that for all of the vitriol and hyperventilating partisan outrage that she spread over the decade at the helm of Must Read Alaska, Suzanne Downing sometimes did good journalism.
If she could only give up the rabid partisan bent and general mean-spiritedness, I’d say, glossing over the fact that the rabid partisan bent and general mean-spiritedness are the point, she could actually be a valuable part of the state’s media landscape.
Of course, the partisanship is and has always been the point for a blog that started out as the de facto outlet for the Alaska Republican Party and delighted in the sway it held over Republican lawmakers. And even those Republicans couldn’t ignore her frequent forays into bending or warping the truth to fit the needs of the party.
“Was her writing always correct? Probably not,” Rep. Kevin McCabe, R-Big Lake, said during a floor debate where legislators ultimately voted down a citation by extreme-right Republican Rep. Jamie Allard to honor Downing.
Which is to say, I would never have expected the end of her time at the outlet she founded before selling it in 2023 would be over one of those rare acts of down-the-middle-over-the-plate journalism. Well, mostly.
The story in question was her report on former Alaska Attorney General Treg Taylor — the lone Dunleavy AG who didn’t resign amid allegations of being a sex pest — as he seeks to conceal his business dealings ahead of a presumed run for governor (which would make him the third member of Dunleavy’s cabinet to join the race to replace him). At issue are the identities of the 200+ tenants who pay rent to Taylor and his wife, Jodi, that would ordinarily be disclosed under the state’s financial disclosure laws. But, as he frequently and conveniently found throughout his time as Dunleavy’s AG, Taylor argued for a novel reading that conveniently fits his political needs, allowing him to keep them secret.
The public officer public disclosure report process is intended to give the public a view of the financial dealings of its state officers. Things like business dealings, loans and tenants are all things that help paint that picture, illustrating potential conflicts of interest that could impact their decision-making in office.
Downing’s story outlined Taylor’s request to the Alaska Public Offices Commission and the staff report that recommended against granting the exemption because, in their words, it “places a burden upon the citizens who use these disclosures to ensure transparency.” And she closed with a pointed line noting that the request “may draw scrutiny as he positions himself for a run for governor. Personal financial disclosures have discouraged many business people from running for office, and so some may ask why Taylor, as the attorney general, should get an exemption from his public official financial disclosure.”
For the record, the story about the exemption wasn’t the first time Downing took a skeptical look at Taylor and his time as AG — which included a post detailing how it sure looked like he was using state office to boost his profile ahead of the run — but it was apparently the one that got her crosswise with the outlet’s ownership, who she says ordered the post taken down.
“I resigned because the word came down from him,” she said in a phone interview with the Juneau Independent about her interaction with owner and Republican party official Jon Faulkner. “He wanted that story down, and he was very insistent about it, and that’s just not going to work for me.”
Faulkner and the owners deny the claim, insisting that they were trying to combat the “political favoritism” that was creeping into the outlet’s coverage.
Why it matters…
… For the race for governor: What it demonstrates is that there’s a broad disagreement within Republican circles about who should be the standard-bearer for the party heading into a high-stakes election to replace the term-limited Gov. Mike Dunleavy. Downing, who’s been directly involved in conservative politics for the better part of two decades, has her reservations about Taylor that are reflected in her writing. If conservatives have reservations, particularly given Taylor’s work in building his national profile, it’s worth heeding them.
… For conservative media in Alaska: What’s next for Must Read Alaska or Downing isn’t clear at this point, but it looks like she’s planning her own thing independent from the outlet she created. As writer Dermot Cole has documented on Bluesky with a series of her posts trying to invent a connection between Charlie Kirk’s killing and liberals, she’s still going to be doing what she does best.
… For hopes of a less-vitriolic media landscape: Rep. Andrew Gray, D-Anchorage, summed up what her exit from Must Read Alaska means in the broader political landscape in his interview with the Anchorage Daily News: “I think not having her political influence in our government would be a great thing, but at this particular juncture in time, I don’t think we can say what’s going to happen.”
Matt Acuña Buxton is a long-time political reporter who has written for the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner and The Midnight Sun political blog. He also authors the daily politics newsletter, The Alaska Memo, and can frequently be found live-tweeting public meetings on Bluesky.
