Alaska Center for Excellence in Journalism

29/08/2024

Opening soon! Our Fall 2024 grant cycle will open Sept. 1 for Alaska-based reporting projects. We have two categories: in-depth and arts/culture. See our grants page for more details. Deadline is Oct. 15.

27/08/2024

Taking applications now! This professional development opportunity in the State Capitol will offer travel and housing for a reporter looking to increase their impact in reporting on the Legislature for their home newsroom, while alleviating some of the impacts of having a reporter away for so long. See the Legislative Exchange section on our website for details.

10/07/2024

The Anchorage Daily News' recent announcement on reducing its print schedule is the latest demonstration of how news delivery and access has changed over the years.

The changes take effect the week of July 15.

21/06/2024

One of our Fall 2023 In-Depth Reporting Initiative grantees is KDLL, which produced this five-part series on the Kenai Peninsula Borough School Board. Local reporter Riley Board traveled the district to examine how the schools run by the district differ -- and in some cases, are quite the same -- as schools in other more urban and rural districts. Here's the final installment:

The more students a school has, the more specialized classes and creative extracurriculars it can offer — options that are a hallmark of some of the largest schools in the Kenai Peninsula’s school district. KDLL visited the largest elementary, middle and high school in the district for this fina...

21/06/2024

KDLL's reporter Riley Board was awarded a grant from ACEJ in Fall 2023 to complete her reporting on the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District, for which she flew out to some of the furthest-flung communities in the borough to examine their schools. Those communities include Tyonek, a sovereign Alaska Native village, where students at the district-run school learn the Dena'ina language, and another where students learn Sugt'stun, a dialect of Yup'ik spoken by the Sugpiaq people in the Nanwalek area.

This series aired on KDLL and Alaska Public Radio Network, and was published online at KDLL and in print in the Anchorage Daily News. ACEJ supports this kind of collaboration to bring important journalism to an audience across the state!

On the Kenai Peninsula, several Alaska Native villages off the road system boast vibrant schools that focus on connecting students with modern opportunities and traditional knowledge. This is the fourth installment of KDLL's five-part series about Kenai Peninsula schools.

20/06/2024

Grantee Spotlight: KDLL went to the end of the road -- and beyond -- as part of its series on the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District. The second part of the series "The Most Unique District in America" highlights a covey of schools near Homer that educate the children in Russian Old Believer villages. These schools have unique challenges and benefits for the students and staff serving these small, tight-knit communities.

Part 3:

The Southern Kenai Peninsula is home to several villages of Russian Old Believers. In the public schools in the villages, Old Believer culture and bilingual education run throughout the school day. This is the third part in our five-part series about schools on the Kenai Peninsula.

19/06/2024

KDLL, one of ACEJ's local news grantees, completed a five-part series on the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District, which aired on KDLL and Alaska Public Radio Network, and was printed in the Anchorage Daily News.

Reporter Riley Board visited the district's widely varied schools, and got to witness how some of the smallest schools in the district celebrate the winter holidays, community-wide.

Three of the Kenai Peninsula’s smallest schools are in the rural communities of Moose Pass, Cooper Landing and Hope. Small populations mean individualized education, multigrade extracurriculars and a distinct social environment. This is the second installment in a five-part series about schools on...

18/06/2024

The Alaska Center for Excellence in Journalism is proud to support in-depth journalism that may be out of budget for a small newsroom on its own. The latest published collaboration is "The Most Unique District in America," a five-part series produced by KDLL in Kenai, Alaska. This project took reporter Riley Board across the vast Kenai Peninsula Borough to examine schools large and small. The project was also published in the Anchorage Daily News:

Part 1:

With 42 schools spread across a land area bigger than West Virginia, the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District is a good candidate for ‘Most Unique District in America’ according to its superintendent. This is the first in a five-part series about the diversity of schools on the peninsula.

17/06/2024

Congratulations to these two Alaska journalists! Julia O'Malley is president of the Alaska Press Club, which works closely with ACEJ to support journalism and journalists in Alaska, and is a past grantee! Keep up the great work!

Inupiaq writer Laureli Ivanoff of Unalakleet and Anchorage-based author-journalist Julia O’Malley were honored for their writing about Alaska food issues.

05/06/2024

Press Forward national pooled fund applicants -- Alaska Center for Excellence in Journalism and Alaska Press Club are facilitating review sessions for your application ahead of the June 12 deadline. See our site for more information:

Alaska news organizations applying for Press Forward’s national pooled fund open call for coverage in underserved communities may sign up for office hours with a nonprofit philanthropy consultant before the June 12 application deadline.

04/06/2024

🖊Fellowship opportunity! 🗞The New York Times is taking applications for its year-long Local Investigations Fellowship. There's an information session with its inaugural participants this Thursday, June 6.

Thanks to the Alaska Press Club for sharing these professional development and reporting opportunities with Alaska journalists!

Find out more and sign up for the info session here:

The Local Investigations Fellowship gives journalists the opportunity to produce signature investigative work focused on the state or region they’re reporting from that will be published by The Times and made available for free for co-publication by local newsrooms.

22/05/2024

🚨PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT ALERT 🚨 The Local Media Association has applications open for its 2024 cohort in the LMA Lab for Journalism Funding to learn how to develop reporting projects that can be funded through philanthropy.

There is an information session tomorrow, Thursday, May 23. The deadline is soon, May 27!

Professional Development funds to participate may be available through our partners, the Alaska Press Club.

(May 1, 2024) — All local media companies are invited to apply to join the 2024 cohort of the LMA Lab for Journalism Funding to learn how to develop reporting projects that can be funded through philanthropy. Applications are open and will be accepted until May 27. Up to 20 media companies will be...

08/05/2024

John Palfrey, President of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, discusses Press Forward Locals (which includes Press Forward Alaska) in his recent annual essay.

"Local Chapters are springing up as funders are collaborating across states and regions to bring new donors together to expand resources for local news and information. Our coalition hopes to raise the next $500 million for Press Forward at the local level.

This requires a culture change. Press Forward is an opportunity to make a major shift in how we support local news in America.

As individuals, we will need to invest in local news the same way that we invest in arts and culture, hospitals, or our alma maters. We will need to add it to our list of philanthropic commitments—or at least to our list of subscriptions, alongside Amazon Prime, Hulu, and Netflix."

The MacArthur Foundation supports creative people and effective institutions committed to building a more just, verdant, and peaceful world. In addition to selecting the MacArthur Fellows, we work to defend human rights, advance global conservation and security, make cities better places, and unders...

07/05/2024

“I think about it [local journalism] as a public good;" Palfrey said. "We have to have it. We have to pay for it like you pay for roads or electricity. Now, there are revenue streams; it’s not without revenue streams. But so, too, does the symphony have revenue streams.”

Read the rest of Alaska Business magazine's story on our Press Forward Alaska launch here:

Press Forward Alaska taps into a nationwide network of philanthropy to support local journalism, shifting the news toward a nonprofit model.

03/05/2024

We've been working hard behind the scenes leading up to last month's Press Forward Alaska launch! John Palfrey of the MacArthur Foundation, Jim Brady of the Knight Foundation, and Judy Woodruff of the PBS NewsHour came to Alaska to promote the Press Forward movement. Read more about it and see pictures from our events here:

Prospective donors, community leaders and journalists gathered in Anchorage for the launch of Press Forward Alaska this April. Events took place during "J-Week," the annual conference of news professionals hosted by the Alaska Press Club. The Atwood Foundation and Alaska Center for Excelle

01/05/2024

Are you a local news organization interested in applying to Press Forward’s Open Call on Closing Local Coverage Gaps?

Press Forward is offering assistance with applications:
📅Attend an Information Session on May 9
🖊Sign up for complimentary fundraising coaching and grant writing support, offered in partnership with the Lenfest Institute for Journalism

Learn more and register at pressforward.news/opencall

30/04/2024

"Together, we are not just filling gaps -- we are constructing bridges."

Press Forward director Dale Anglin explains to Poynter the focus of this first open call for Press Forward pooled funds.

From person-to-person coaching and intensive hands-on seminars to interactive online courses and media reporting, Poynter helps journalists sharpen skills and elevate storytelling throughout their careers.

30/04/2024

Big news for local news: Press Forward, the $500 million movement to reinvigorate local news, just opened applications for funding for its first open call -focused on closing longstanding inequalities in local news coverage.

✅ 100 newsrooms will receive close to $100,000 in funding for general operating support.
✅ Non-profit, for-profit and college news outlets with budgets up to $1 million are eligible.
✅ Information sessions and one-on-one help from a fundraising coaches are available.

We are proud to be a part of the coalition that is working to strengthen communities by reinvigorating local news. Register for an information session on May 9 and learn more at pressforward.news/opencall

The page you are looking for is no longer here, or never existed in the first place (bummer). You can try searching for what you are looking for using the form below. If that still doesn't provide the results you are looking for, you can always start over from the home page.

24/04/2024

GRANT OPPORTUNITY: On April 30, Press Forward's national organization will post its open call for Closing Local Coverage Gaps.

The grants will provide 100-plus news outlets with an expected $100,000 each in funding, whether they are non-profit or for-profit entities. The funding will be unrestricted, general operating support, allowing the news organizations to spend it as needed to sustain and grow their operations.

The application will be available April 30 – June 12 at pressforward.news. Follow the Alaska Center for Excellence in Journalism and sign up for our email alerts to learn more!

Press Forward, the $500 million movement to reimagine local news, will launch applications on April 30 for its first open call for funding focused on addressing historic inequalities in news coverage.

21/04/2024

WHAT A WEEK! We are so grateful to MacArthur Foundation 's John Palfrey, Knight Foundation 's Jim Brady, and Judy Woodruff for making the trek to Alaska to help us launch our Press Forward Alaska chapter to the community!

We connected with Alaska-based foundations, and shared our initiative with journalists at the annual Alaska Press Club conference.

We're still in our early stages of setting up the Press Forward Alaska infrastructure, supports, and plans, so stay tuned in the coming weeks and months.

15/03/2024

Press Forward's new director, Dale Anglin, started in her role this week and shared this update for everyone interested in Press Forward. We spent time with Dale in Miami ahead of the Knight Media Forum and are excited for the momentum gained in having a designated director for this program.

We've been working hard behind-the-scenes to build momentum for philanthropy in journalism right here in Alaska, and have a lot of great things in the works. Stay tuned for announcements as we get details finalized! In the meantime, read up on what Dale Anglin has to say about her first week at the helm.

This week is my first as Press Forward’s director, a challenge I’m thrilled to take on. As I am settling in, I have been learning the finer details about Press Forward and wanted to share some perspective and a bit about where we are headed. First, thank you for being patient as Press Forward ha...

08/03/2024

Grantee Alert: Last week, writer Julia O'Malley shared the culmination of some of her work on the "Neighbors" project, which examined Anchorage lives during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. She and some of her writing workshop participants read some of their works that reflected on the pandemic, responding to prompts like "grocery store," "mask," "soft pants," and "worst parent ever."

Some of those works were combined with columns O'Malley wrote for the Anchorage Daily News and published again in Chattermarks, a publication of the Anchorage Museum , and in a mini-zine published with the magazine. Thanks to Hank Davis with the Anchorage Museum for sharing these event photos.

07/03/2024

Nothing about journalism in Alaska is "small." Ashlyn O'Hara reports from the State Capitol in Juneau, 600 (air) miles from her newsroom, on the future of a school that's a 100-mile drive (and then some) just off the end of Alaska's road system.

Her reporting is part of ACEJ's Legislative Reporter Exchange.

Micciche said Wednesday that he and the Senate president are working together to determine a viable path forward

01/03/2024

It's hard to believe it's already March, and with a new month comes a new First Friday! Check out tonight's event at the Anchorage Museum Seed Lab, featuring works from one of the projects funded by the Alaska Center for Excellence in Journalism's, "Neighbors" from the Anchorage Museum and Anchorage Daily News.

The power of storytelling to heal a community

24/02/2024

Congratulations to Alex McKay on her position at the Alaska Community Foundation! The Alaska Center for Excellence in Journalism is a special project fund of ACF and we’re excited to see what is yet to come!

The Alaska Community Foundation Board of Directors is pleased to announce that Alexandra “Alex” McKay has been hired as the organization’s new president and CEO. McKay brings more than 20 years of philanthropy experience and strong relationships with non-profit organizations across the state. McKay will begin in her new role on March 1, 2024. Please join us in welcoming Alex to ACF, and to learn more about Alex, click the link below.

https://alaskacf.org/the-alaska-community-foundation-announces-new-president-and-ceo/

23/02/2024

ACEJ Director Kortnie Horazdovsky (right) and Alaska Press Club Executive Director Rosey Robards were just part of the Press Forward Alaska contingent to attend the Knight Media Forum in Miami. The event offered opportunities to meet with other Press Forward Locals chapters, funders, news collaborative and more to share knowledge, network, and be inspired!

21/02/2024

The Peninsula Clarion’s Ashlyn O’Hara is our second legislative exchange reporter for 2024. Here’s what she’s focusing on in her reporting for the communities of the Kenai Peninsula:

Reporter Ashlyn O’Hara will be covering statewide issues with a local lens

13/02/2024

Congratulations to Dale R. Anglin, ’s inaugural Director! Anglin will lead the national coalition investing more than $500 million to strengthen communities and reinvigorate local news across the country. ACEJ is part of Press Forward Alaska, a local chapter of the national initiative.

Currently a vice president at the Cleveland Foundation, Anglin recently led the effort to invest in a regional network of nonprofit journalism initiatives in Ohio, and has throughout her career led funder collaboratives to address systemic issues. Learn more about Anglin:

Dale R. Anglin grew up in a family of news junkies. If the Chicago Sun-Times wasn’t delivered punctually to their home on Chicago’s South Side, her mom wasn’t happy. Yet at the same time, Anglin realized the news her family needed wasn’t just delivered in that newspaper. Every Sunday, her gr...

19/09/2022

Table Stakes, a program at Poynter aimed at accelerating digital transformation and sustainability in local news, is accepting applications for its 2023 class. The deadline is Nov. 18, 2022. Learn more at:

Transition to sustainable digital publishing and build a culture of performance-driven change. Apply for the yearlong program by Nov. 18, 2022.

04/08/2022

STARTS MONDAY: The Knight Foundation has put together a FREE, 4-week online course about climate science, climate journalism, as well as efforts to fight disinformation around climate science. Aug. 8-Sep. 4. Check out details and register at:

Welcome to the Knight Center's new MOOC, "Digital investigations for journalists: How to follow the digital trail of people and entities."