The Voice of the Times is about to go silent.
The conservative opinion Web site -- the last remnant of The Anchorage Times newspaper -- plans to stop publishing new stories and columns by next month, the site announced over the weekend.
"I think the final day is Nov. 1," said editor and writer Paul Jenkins.
The Voice of the Times is owned by former Veco Corp. chief executive Bill Allen, who last year pleaded guilty to federal bribery and conspiracy charges and most recently has appeared as a star witnesses in federal prosecutors' case against U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens.
The Times editors write that last year they were given a year to make the Web site profitable and independent, but they couldn't collect enough advertising money to stay afloat.
"The Voice had difficulty attracting advertisers both because it did not have a professional sales staff and because many prospective advertisers consider it politically radioactive due to its identification with Bill Allen, its former publisher and a key figure in the ongoing political scandals in Alaska," the Times editors wrote at www.voiceofthetimes.net.
The Times newspaper folded in 1992, but the Voice of the Times lived on as a half-page editorial section in the Daily News as part of an unusual agreement between the former rival papers.
The Daily News announced it would not renew the contract last year, and the Voice of the Times moved online, operating out of offices on Ninth Avenue and N Street downtown.
The Times' editorial claims a base of roughly 20,000 readers, but Jenkins said some people who read the editorials in the newspaper never followed the writers online or were aware of the site.
"Not having a newspaper for a Web site operation, or some way of advertising it, is like shooting yourself in the foot," he said.
Find Kyle Hopkins' political blog online at adn.com/alaskapolitics or call him at 257-4334.
By KYLE HOPKINS
khopkins@adn.com