''The Ester Republic'' is a small, independent monthly

newspaper A newspaper is a Periodical literature, periodical publication containing written News, information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as p ...

published in

Ester, Alaska Ester is a census-designated place (CDP) in Fairbanks North Star Borough, Alaska, United States. It is part of the Fairbanks, Alaska Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population in the CDP was 2,422 at the 2010 census, although there are only ...

, and established January 1999. The paper serves as an

alternative media Alternative media are media sources that differ from established or dominant types of media (such as mainstream media or mass media) in terms of their content, production, or distribution.Downing, John (2001). ''Radical Media''. Thousand Oaks, ...

publication for the

Tanana Valley The Tanana Valley is a lowland region in central Alaska in the United States, on the north side of the Alaska Range, where the Tanana River emerges from the mountains. Traditional inhabitants of the valley are Tanana Athabaskans of Alaskan Athab ...

. It is the only newspaper that has been published in Ester; the village has been served historically by Fairbanks newspapers. Contributors are generally amateur writers, although some professional

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalis ...

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems ( oral or wri ...

s, and

photographer A photographer (the Greek φῶς (''phos''), meaning "light", and γραφή (''graphê''), meaning "drawing, writing", together meaning "drawing with light") is a person who makes photographs. Duties and types of photographers As in other ...

s appear in its pages (e.g., Richard A. Fineberg, John Haines,

Dahr Jamail Dahr Jamail (born 1968) is an American journalist who was one of the few unembedded journalists to report extensively from Iraq during the 2003 invasion of Iraq. He spent eight months in Iraq, between 2003 and 2005, and presented his stories on ...

). The periodical encourages submissions of

editorial cartoon A political cartoon, a form of editorial cartoon, is a cartoon graphic with caricatures of public figures, expressing the artist's opinion. An artist who writes and draws such images is known as an editorial cartoonist. They typically combine a ...

s by Alaskan artists, and has two "staff" cartoonists, Jamie Smith and Daniel Darrow. The paper has been operated out of the home of the

publisher Publishing is the activity of making information, literature, music, software and other content available to the public for sale or for free. Traditionally, the term refers to the creation and distribution of printed works, such as books, newsp ...

for much of its history; for a time its office space was the historic Ester

post office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letters and parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post offices may offer additional ser ...

, a 14'x16' structure built in 1971. The paper was the recipient of at least one award from the

Alaska Press Club The Alaska Press Club is a network of journalists and media in Alaska. The club holds an annual journalism conference and awards banquet in Anchorage, Alaska Anchorage () is the largest city in the U.S. state of Alaska by population. With a ...

each year from 2002 to 2008.

External links

*
The publisher's blog
1999 establishments in Alaska Independent newspapers published in the United States Mass media in Fairbanks, Alaska Monthly newspapers Newspapers published in Alaska Publications established in 1999 {{FairbanksNorthStarAK-geo-stub