As we enter a new year, I want to take a moment to reflect on all of the reporting in 2024 by our team of journalists at Alaska Public Media and our partners across the state.
Below are 10 of our top stories of the year.
In them, reporters take you everywhere from a whale hunt in Utqiaġvik to the docks in King Cove to a kitchen in Kotzebue.
The stories, as a collection, remind me of many of the reasons I love working at Alaska Public Media. Three of the big ones:
- We're committed to sending reporters across the state because we want you to hear the perspectives of Alaskans from all over.
- We value partnerships, and believe the best journalism — the reporting that is most critical to our community — can be done when we work together.
- We invest in young journalists. We have two paid news internships a year. We provide training and mentorship, and the interns quickly become a key part of the team.
Donations from our members make all of this work possible.
If you're already a member, thank you. If you’d like to become one or are considering an additional donation, you can do so by clicking here.
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Thank you for valuing our journalism.
- Tegan Hanlon/news editor
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Here are 10 of the stories our readers spent the most time with in 2024:
1. For one Utqiaġvik family, spring bowhead whaling marks an important milestone
Kavitha George and Valerie Kern traveled to northern Alaska to spend time with the Aaluk Crew, and 17-year-old Donald Adams who had just landed his first catch. Read more.
2. This oil platform stopped pumping 30 years ago. Alaska still won’t make the owner tear it down.
This story was reported by Nat Herz as part of our ongoing collaboration with APM Reports, the investigative journalism arm of American Public Media. Read more.
3. Iditarod disqualifies former champion Brent Sass amid sex assault allegations
Casey Grove and ADN's Kyle Hopkins worked together to report this important story. Read more.
4. Hey Anchorage, who's your pick for mayor? Why?
Wesley Early and Jeremy Hsieh spent a day driving across the municipality to talk with voters ahead of the city election. Read more.
5. Japanese climbers finish a never-before completed Denali expedition, thanks to help from Alaskans
Our intern Anisa Vietze met up with the climbers to hear about how the community banded together to save their trip. Read more.
6. String of fatal landslides forces Southeast to reckon with risk
Eric Stone, who’s based in Juneau, spoke with Southeast residents about how they’re weighing risk after the latest fatal landslide. Read more.
7. 'Stunning' 47-foot fin whale washes ashore near Anchorage's Westchester Lagoon
It was the event of the season in the city, and Ava White and Wesley Early brought us this story from the mudflats. Read more.
Eric Stone traveled to King Cove to bring us this story about how the seafood industry crisis is impacting this remote community. Read more.
9. Alaska beekeepers kill their colonies every fall, but an Anchorage man has another way
Rachel Cassandra reported this story from the roof of 49th State Brewing Company’s warehouse. Read more.
10. How to run in a House district the size of Germany? Pickled whale might help.
Liz Ruskin traveled to Kotzebue for this profile of Robyn Niayuq Burke. Liz is normally based in Washington, D.C. We are proud to be the only Alaska news organization with a reporter stationed at the U.S. Capitol. Read more.
