Alaska Center for Excellence in Journalism

25/06/2025

📻 "Gone to Pieces" 🎙 Listen to KYUK's full series on the challenge-riddled move of the community of Newtok to Mertarvik. This project was funded in part by ACEJ's Impact Initiative Reporting project in Fall 2023.

It took nearly 40 years for the village of Newtok to relocate to a new site, Mertarvik. But the climate-driven relocation hasn't gone entirely to plan. Here's how one of the United States' first climate relocations is falling apart.

11/06/2025

🚨GRANTEE SPOTLIGHT:🏠 KYUK's Emily Schwing has been reporting on the move of the Western Alaska community of Newtok to the new site of Mertarvik, due to erosion and melting permafrost. But what she found in Mertarvik isn't what community members and federal agencies had expected.

This project was partially funded through ACEJ's Impact Initiative Reporting project in Fall 2023, and produced in collaboration with ProPublica and the Washington Post.

The project’s challenges highlight how ill-prepared the U.S. is to respond to the way climate change is making some places uninhabitable.

10/06/2025

📣 You're Invited!
Join the Alaska Native Media Group Annual Meeting – in person or on Zoom!

Tuesday, June 17, 2025 at 6-8 pm
Keynote Speaker: Mark Trahant
Chair, Indigenous Public Media

Program Highlights:
• Alaska Native Book Fair – Kristel Komakhuk
• Radio/Podcast Project – Gerad Godfrey
• Teen Media Institute – Rosey Robards
• Member Benefits & Schedule – Jon Butzke

ANMG connects, uplifts, and supports Alaska Native media professionals. Come learn, network, and be part of the movement!


https://alaskanativemedia.org

28/05/2025

🏛 Support the Legislative Reporter Exchange. Send local Alaska reporters to Juneau to cover your lawmakers face to face, while providing paid internships for University of Alaska students to keep local stories covered. Learn more in the comments 👇

The Alaska Center for Excellence in Journalism provides support for in-depth, high-impact journalism in Alaska.

27/05/2025

📻 PUBLIC MEDIA 📺 learning opportunity: Many of our grantees are public radio stations. For station and newsroom leadership, check out this Thursday morning webinar opportunity about resilience and budgeting in uncertain times:

As public media faces potential federal funding cuts and other unpredictable disruptions, the need for clear, forward-thinking local leadership has never been greater. This webinar from Public Media Company and The Bridgespan Group offers practical guidance on scenario and contingency planning tailo...

23/04/2025

✨GRANTEE SPOTLIGHT: ✨ “Alaskan art at the time — if you didn’t have Mount McKinley or a moose or a cache in it, it wasn’t done,” said Alaska musician and performer Mr. Whitekeys, who met artist Bill Sabo in the early 1970s. Sabo and Whitekeys later collaborated on a multimedia art show titled, “A Fur Rendezvous Art Exhibit Without A Single Picture of Mt. McKinley.”

Sabo's work is on display at Blue Georgia gallery through this Saturday. This reporting is funded in part by the Alaska Center for Excellence in Journalism's Arts Reporting initiative.

“My Hands Are Connected to My Heart” is on view at Georgia Blue Gallery until Saturday, April 26.

10/04/2025

The Copper River Record was one of seven Alaska outlets to receive funding from Press Forward during the national organization's first open round of funding. This week the Alaska newspaper was featured by Press Forward. Read about how they're utilizing the funding here:

Learn more about a Press Forward grantee newsroom in Alaska.

09/04/2025

The Alaska Center for Excellence in Journalism is hosting a panel discussion this Friday during the Alaska Press Club conference that will bring together leaders of multiple Journalism Support Organizations in Alaska to discuss what they're working on now, and what their hopes are for the future of Alaska journalism. We hope to see you there!

This is part of the conference and will require you to be an attendee.

07/04/2025

The Nome Nugget's Anna Lionas is our second Legislative Exchange reporter participating this year. Last week she reported on a bill that would add resources to statewide e-waste recycling and removal efforts, which are already underway in the Bering Strait region.

24/03/2025

Attention high school juniors! The Freedom Forum is seeking applicants from Alaska to participate in this summer's Al Neuharth Free Spirit and Journalism Conference. Join other upcoming seniors from every other state and D.C. to learn about journalism and the first amendment in the nation's capital.

*The deadline has been extended to April 1. Link in comments.

20/03/2025

ICYMI: Atwood Foundation's Executive Director Sara Perman's opinion piece on arts coverage, community and local journalism.

"To our local media outlets and journalists, I encourage you to step back and reflect on how the stories you tell shape the way we see ourselves as a community. Please continue sharing more community-interest stories: arts, food and other cultural gems.

And to the readers: Find time for community events. Connect with your neighbors over shared interests. Support your local news source’s community coverage. If you see something you love, share it."

Atwood Foundation is the Alaska Center for Excellence in Journalism's largest funder. We offer both in-depth and arts reporting grants to keep community in local journalism.

Not only do these stories drive awareness and attendance, but they also help shape our identity as a community.

20/03/2025

Our KUCB Legislative Exchange reporter Andy Lusk met face-to-face with state lawmakers, and local officials who visited the capitol to advocate for capital projects in the remote island community that is also the nation's busiest seafood port. Interviewing lawmakers and constituents when they're discussing the important state issues is a key experience for Legislative Exchange reporters, building connections and experience that will last through their time reporting in Alaska.

Unalaska’s city manager and the leader of an Aleutian regional Alaska Native corporation were in Juneau Monday and Tuesday advocating for state funds that could help push several local projects over the finish line.