By Karen Wuestenfeld, Secretary, Board of Directors


HIP turns six months old today! On October 23, 2025, our application to form the Alaska nonprofit corporation NZP4H was approved. On January 1, 2026, we published our first issue. And we continue to hit critical milestones, thanks to your support.


Over the last half year, we’ve learned the incredible depth of community appreciation and support for free, independent journalism – thank you!


We’ve received solid financial support through hundreds of donations – from $5 to five-figure gifts – and a growing roster of advertisers.


A multitude of dedicated volunteers, free-lance journalists and contractors, motivated to keep our community informed, has helped edit, write and organize events to keep us going.


Today, we publish our 17th issue, and we have more ideas for content than we can produce with our volunteer writer and editor crew. Recognizing that, and after careful financial analysis, we decided we were ready to hire a full-time reporter. We will pay our reporter a living wage and some benefits. This hiring decision will reduce our available cash flow, but it is needed.


We’re asking for your help to sustain our growth and momentum. All gifts are important, but monthly sustaining gifts are especially welcome because they provide better assurance and certainty about our future finances. A subscription to HIP is free, but getting it to your inbox or device is not. Other newsrooms around the state charge from $7 to $20 per month.


If you have not donated, and are planning a gift, please consider making a monthly contribution.


If you already have contributed, thank you!  And please consider donating again for a monthly amount, no matter the size of your gift.


Gratefully, the NZP4H Board of Directors