Alaska’s top conservative writer explains why she left the website she founded

Suzanne Downing, the founder of conservative news website Must Read Alaska, is one of the most influential media figures in the state.

Which is why her sudden departure last weekend from the site came as big news in Alaska’s political circles. As reported by the Alaska Landmine — another news site for political junkies founded after Must Read Alaska — Downing resigned after she was pressured to take down a story by Jon Faulkner. 

Faulkner, a longtime player in Republican politics, is one of the investors who purchased the site from Downing in 2023; she has continued writing for Must Read Alaska since then.

The story in question focused on Treg Taylor, who resigned his job as attorney general last month and is widely speculated to be planning a bid for governor in the already hotly contested Republican Party primary. 

As reported by Downing, Taylor had asked the state’s campaign finance and disclosure agency, the Alaska Public Offices Commission, for an exemption to a requirement that high-level executive branch officials report sources of income from rental properties.

I reached Downing to discuss her resignation from the site, where she’d worked on contract since it was acquired in 2023. We spoke about what happened, her future plans, her journalistic focus on Taylor and her approach to reporting and ethics. A transcript of the interview, with edits and trims for clarity, is below.

Reached by phone, Faulkner, the investor whom Downing alleges asked her to take her story down, declined to comment on her assertions, saying he would address them in a statement on Must Read Alaska later this week.

Taylor sent a statement about Downing’s departure to the Anchorage Daily News saying he learned about it from the Landmine website “like everyone else.” 

“I had nothing to do with…her leaving,” he told reporter Iris Samuels.

Here’s the interview.

Nathaniel Herz: What happened?

Suzanne Downing: You might have seen my story on Treg Taylor. I thought that was a legit, fair story. It wasn't an attack at all. It's unusual to have an attorney general making a request of an agency that he represents — to have an exemption for a process that a lot of people don't get exemptions for. I put the documentation in there. People can read it themselves and make up their own minds about whether that's even appropriate.

Faulkner was very insistent that I take the story down. And this is how this rolls in this world: As soon as people find out how to get stories taken down, there is really no end of complaints in this business. People will say, ‘Why did you take the story down?’ Well, now, if you get a person who's ethical, you have to tell the truth: ‘I took the story down because the owner told me to take it down.’ That's not good either, right? So, you know, I'm not going to be subject to censorship, because that's not how I roll, and I'm not going to be subject to bullying, because that's not how I roll. And you know me, I'm going to be me. So, it's pretty easy. No bad guys in this. It's just time to move on.

NH: What you heard from Jon Faulkner, exactly, was— 

SD: ‘Take the story down.’ Just, ‘Take the story down.’ There was no 'or else' in it.

NH: You were just, like, 'I'm going to step away and do something else.'

SD: I don't have time for this kind of stuff. So, it's time for me to go. Because he could find somebody else to take the story down.

NH: Will you continue to do what you do, in another way? Is that your plan?

SD: I don't know that I can really share what my plans are right now. But I will say that an intelligent person would not be doing this without having thought things through, right? And you can call me a lot of things, but I'm not unintelligent.

NH: You were the original founder and sole owner of Must Read Alaska, and you sold the business to Faulkner and company in 2023. Could I say that was a deal in the six-figure range?

SD: Well, I'm not comfortable stating what the range is at all. When you sell something like this, there is no way to value it. So, I felt pretty good about what I was able to do, because I was able to go to Skagway (in Southeast Alaska), and buy a house,

NH: And since 2023, you've worked on contract?

SD: Yup.

NH: And you're living in Skagway, where you have a grandkid?

SD: Yeah. I bought a little house here, so that I could just be present in somebody's life. That was important.

NH: What I really find to be interesting about this situation is that I heard from one of my conservative sources a few weeks ago that there’s a perception that Suzanne Downing is biased toward one of the Republican gubernatorial candidates, Bernadette Wilson, as opposed to Taylor or the many others. And I did notice that you had done two recent stories focusing on Treg. 

Can you speak to the idea that you have a favorite in the Republican primary, and how you’d respond if other candidates or their allies allege that you are not being a totally fair broker?

SD: You're talking too much. Listen. When Nick Begich (III) ran (for U.S. House), I backed Nick Begich. When Mike Dunleavy ran (for governor), I backed Mike Dunleavy. When Kelly Tshibaka ran (for U.S. Senate), I backed Kelly Tshibaka. And nobody was confused about my position. Nobody should ever be confused about my position. I'm always very up-front about it. 

I'm not going to be coy and not say that I don't have a friendship with Bernadette. I do. I do have a friendship with (former Alaska revenue commissioner and now Republican gubernatorial candidate) Adam Crum. I do have a friendship with (Republican state Sen. and gubernatorial candidate) Shelley Hughes. I also really have a lot of admiration for Treg Taylor. However, it has become more than apparent, in my view, and in many people's views, that over the past several months, he has been increasing his visibility, with the intention that he was going to run. And I like transparency. I like people to be forthright. 

Let's not play games. I don't want a governor who says, 'Oh, I know where the ethical line is, and I'm just going to dance right up to it.' So, (my first story on Taylor) was a warning shot over the bow. 'Don't do that. Don't go there. You're better than that. I expect better than that. And the public deserves better than that.’

NH: Is Must Read Alaska going to survive without Suzanne Downing?

SD: Sure. Nobody's indispensable. Come on, you aren't, either. Nobody's indispensable. The world goes on without us, man. It does. I've got proof.

NH: As a story, I find it fascinating. I don't really care, I have no dog in the fight —

SD: You hate me. It's okay. Here's the deal. You just need to be advised, if stuff like this happens to you, that you take a lesson from it. It's hard to sell a news blog to people who aren't in the news business. Now, I'm not a journalist any more. I write for a cause, the conservative cause. But at the same time, you know, there are aspects that are journalistic about it. And if you ever decide you want to sell, just nail it down.

NH: Is it fair to say that one of the reasons that this is worth leaving this job over is, from your perspective, there isn't anything inaccurate about the story?

SD: All the documents are in the story. Here's the documents. Here's the link.

That was a story I did yesterday. I also did a story saying, 'Hey, the finalists for the University of Alaska Anchorage chancellor are coming.' That's not worth a story either, right? Nothing's worth a story. It's all judgment. I'm paid for my judgment. And I haven't grown this site to be what it is by relying on lily-livered judgment. I'm just bold.

We're done. I have logged out of their Facebook account. I've logged out of their Twitter account. The only reason I haven't logged out of their WordPress account is because I want to be real careful not to accidentally take down the whole site somehow.

NH: But the story's still up.

SD: And it's up to them to take it down. But I've got a copy of it. Because if they take it down, you know, that will be of interest.

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