UPDATE ON THE LITTLE NEWS BLOG THAT COULD
A big thanks to all Must Read Alaska readers this morning.
Four years after launching this website, Must Read Alaska has reached a milestone, passing the 10 millionth visitor mark.
The landmark event happened just after midnight on June 20, when the electronic counter rolled over to 10,000,000. There were no drum rolls. Your editor had dozed off, and by the time she woke up an hour later, she’d missed the turn, so here is the snapshot from 1 am Saturday:
Must Read Alaska began in in 2015 as a modest political newsletter whose readers were nearly all registered Republican voters. MRAK has always been about Alaskans and what policies are the best ideas for our state, from the conservative point of views.
In May of 2016, editor Suzanne Downing launched the website as an addition to the primary focus, which was still the newsletter.
The first story on the Must Read Alaska website was a feature profile of political consultant Art Hackney, published on May 16, 2016.
“You have to have a lot of life experience to be effective as a political consultant,” Hackney said, having been in the business of advising candidates in Alaska for over 36 years. (Make that 40 years now, and Hackney has even more profound life experience, and more awards to show for his work.)
The primary reader for MRAK has always been a politically tuned Alaskan who is open to conservative public policy. This is the place where conservatives can feel their points of view are honored. Politics and policy is our primary beat.
FACEBOOK AND YOUTUBE MILESTONES
Must Read Alaska’s Facebook page also reached a milestone this week, with now over 9,000 followers.
And the YouTube channel that MRAK launched last month? We’ve got work to do and it’s this year’s project, but we have nearly 500 subscribers already.
Here are the comparison statistics that show how Must Read Alaska rolls with the big boys out there. The MRAK site ranks at #9,160 in the United States. (In this comparison, everyone wants the low number, such as Google has at #1.)
What does being ranked #9,160 mean in the national website landscape? It’s very, very good.
But taking a look at the global ranking comparison, MRAK is really proud of this next chart, which shows where MRAK sits in the local media landscape (low number wins):
MRAK is also pleased to have working partnerships with Anchorage Daily Planet, and CraigMedred.news, as well as regular columnists Win Gruening, Art Chance, and Dan Fagan. Contributors, commenters, and news tips from all across the state make this a crowd-sourced project.
FUELED BY DONATIONS, ADS, AND GRIT
Must Read Alaska intends to stay small and nimble. We’re sticking to our focus here in Alaska — political reporting and observation of our state’s current events, as well as keeping the mainstream media accountable for its seemingly unending liberal bias.
This project still runs mainly on donations, with some advertising, which helps keep it all going through thick and thin. This spring, John Quick of Nikiski joined Must Read Alaska as vice president of business development, to grow our ad revenues and our reach. You can contact him at [email protected] (that’s right, there is no “m” at the end of that email address) if you’d like the rate sheet.
Must Read Alaska now has a column at NewsMax.com, and a new partnership with mynewsbuffet.com is also an exciting development.
But mostly, Must Read Alaska runs on grit and determination to get up every day and do the best we can do for all Alaskans. I’m very, very grateful for each and every reader who has made this project a success.
Thank you from the bottom of my heart!
