Alaska Public Media Receives CPB Grant To Expand Statewide Journalism

WASHINGTON— Alaska Public Media is the recipient of a $936,000 grant from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) to head a statewide collaboration of public media stations called the "Alaska Desk" that aims to strengthen and expand local news services, especially in rural communities, CPB said today.

“Alaska’s public media stations provide a critical lifeline for many rural and Alaska Native communities who depend on them as their sole source of news and public affairs,” said El Ulman, president of Alaska Public Media in Anchorage. “Roughly 80% of Alaska’s communities cannot be reached by road, which means that information access is critical to making everyday decisions in remote areas where resources can be costly to obtain.”

A governance committee consisting of representatives from public media stations in Alaska will determine editorial vision and strategic priorities, it said.

The two-year funding will help to pay for four reporters based at Alaska public media stations as well as three editors, travel and equipment. Together the new journalists will increase news creation capacity at the state’s public media radio and TV stations. The grant also will support a full-time development officer who will seek additional funding to sustain local journalism, it said.

The state’s public media stations have for years distributed the “Alaska News Nightly” newscast. They also share one of the state’s only full-time reporters based in Washington, D.C.

More information is available on the CPB and Alaska Public Media websites.