‘16 Nods from the AK Press Club

With your support, KNOM Radio creates a wide array of original radio programming and online content, each component of which is designed to entertain, engage, inspire, and inform the many listeners and community members of our vast corner of Western Alaska. While our mission and its programming remain ever-focused on the needs of those in our region, we’re gratified and excited when our work receives accolades from elsewhere, such as statewide or national broadcasting organizations.

This April, KNOM took home four awards from the annual conference of the Alaska Press Club. We’re excited and honored to announce these awards — and, especially, to share them with you; they recognize the work of KNOMers past and present:

In the “Best Feature Blog” category, KNOM won a 1st Place award for our Volunteer Blog, credited to 2015-2016 volunteers Maddie Winchester, Mitch Borden, Laura Kraegel, and Emily Russell (pictured below). Their online writing offers a glimpse into the daily lives and thoughts of our volunteers as they experience the highlights and challenges of their service years, as well as a unique, new-arrival’s look at life in the Alaska Bush.
In “Best Solo Journalism,” 2nd Place for news director alumnus Matthew Smith and his autumn 2015 story, “Obama Unveils Effort for Community Climate Resilience During Visit to Kotzebue.” (Static readers may recall this story from our October issue, recounting the historic visit of President Obama to Arctic Alaska in September 2015.)
In “Best Alaska History Story,” 2nd Place for Kristin Leffler’s “Voices from the Dream Theater,” an episode of our ongoing series Story49 focusing on the incredible, true story of a Nome resident who opposed segregation and discrimination against Alaska Natives during the 1940s in Nome.
In “Best Ongoing Public Affairs Program,” 3rd Place for Story49 (overall), credited to producers Kristin Leffler (2014-2015) and Maddie Winchester (2015-current).

As always, we share these and all awards we receive with our incredible network of supporters and listeners, throughout Alaska and the Lower 48. Thanks so much for all you do, and congratulations! (And, to hear the stories and shows that took home this year’s AK Press Club awards, follow the links above.)