You — the Homer Community — deserve a great news and information outlet, and the mission of the Homer Independent Press is to give you that service.  

Last fall, a group of local individuals met over coffee and realized we all felt our long-time local paper had eroded in both quality and integrity. We are supporters of the First Amendment — and we wanted to know what’s happening locally! With enthusiasm and shared concern, we set out to do better. Our community is complex and fascinating; we deserve a news and information outlet that rises to the challenge of covering our home. By community, we mean the region from Ninilchik in the north to Nanwalek in the south, and from Anchor Point in the west to Fox River in the east.

We started as a small group, but word about our intentions spread. Informal chats in stores or on the beach turned into community conversations, including a popular Bake Sale for the First Amendment. We experienced a groundswell of support, received great ideas and direction on what we should be, cautionary tales, opposing views, and professional advice from business leaders and journalism professionals. We posted an online survey on bulletin boards around the Homer area to receive anonymous input on what the community wants to read in a local news outlet. We convened a meeting to hear from both sides of the political spectrum what they would want to see in a reliable local news source. Some people offered us generous cash donations before we’d formed our non-profit corporation.  

Today, we launch the Homer Independent Press.

We are set in an epically beautiful landscape, called the cosmic hamlet by the sea, are a nuclear free zone, and have a wide diversity of opinions, spiritual beliefs and people. We are collectively politically purple with wide variation across the political spectrum and appreciate one another as good people despite differing views. We are fishermen, farmers, contractors, artists, scientists, retirees, carpenters, writers, welders, medical professionals, students, subsistence harvesters, heavy equipment operators, teachers, marine tradesmen, business owners and those who just want to live here. The Homer Independent Press aims to serve the entirety of this community as a trusted news and information source —one that unites rather than divides.

We believe our community deserves factual, in-depth and unbiased reporting. We intend to be your source for local news, both the positive and the difficult. We intend our editorial team to shine a light on things that aren’t working well so that our community can come together to put them right. We plan to provide interesting features and an events calendar so you can join your friends and neighbors at local events and meetings. In addition to the local elections, local government and in-depth feature articles you most requested in the online survey, we’ll let you know about the arts, school activities, outdoor recreation and all the other events that make our community vibrant and fascinating. 

We want to provide connections that build community and help us understand ourselves and each other in this time of divisiveness and mistrust. And we’d like to hear what you’d like to see in our online paper — tell us!

We will provide a forum where multiple viewpoints have an outlet for respectful expression. We might not agree with you, but we will defend your right to free speech just as much as we want you to defend ours.

We are committed to ethical journalism and will adhere to the Society of Professional Journalism Standards. Our nonprofit corporation, NZP4H, is structured to assure our Board of Directors and business management team are unable to influence editorial opinions and news coverage – this is dictated in our bylaws. As a nonprofit, management of the Homer Independent Press and its revenues will remain local. We promise to be ethical stewards of donations and grants. Funds we receive through advertising and other sources will grow and strengthen local reporting.

We are committed to working hard to earn your trust as we present the news of the day from the southern Kenai Peninsula. We ask this: if you like what we’re doing, tell others and, if you are able, please donate, subscribe and/or advertise to keep this cause alive. If you don’t like what we’re doing, please tell us (and we’d still like to have you subscribe and donate). 

A free press, our Homer Independent Press, will only be possible with your support. We hope you agree.

NZP4H Board of Directors: 

R. Scott Waterman, President
John Fraser, Vice President
Bill Wuestenfeld, Treasurer
Karen Wuestenfeld, Secretary
Donna Aderhold
Wayne Aderhold

We acknowledge the significant contribution and support of over two dozen dedicated volunteers who made this first edition possible –– thank you.