When Thompson assumed majority ownership of the renamed "Fairbanks Daily News-Miner" in early 1909, it was one of three daily newspapers in Fairbanks. The other two were the "Fairbanks Times" and the "Tanana Daily Tribune". Competition among the three newspapers was intense, and they often clashed about issues such as city council meetings, a permanent bridge over the Chena River, and the mineral prospects of the town of Iditarod, where gold had just been discovered. The intense rivalries were driven by the declining economic situation in Fairbanks, as the initial gold findings that inspired the Fairbanks Gold Rush began to wane.