Public Broadcasting
Dear Editor: From Utqiaġvik, to Ketchikan, some 30,000 Alaskans are members of their local radio or TV public broadcasting stations. Many local and statewide businesses support public broadcasting through underwriting the cost of delivering quality programming. And the entire public broadcasting system is an economic engine – supporting 368 full- and part-time jobs in small communities such as Bethel and Sitka, to the cities of Anchorage, Fairbanks and Juneau.
Reliant on state funding decades ago, the system managers have worked hard to diversify the revenue stream – especially after the Alaska Legislature cut almost half of the funding to public broadcasting during the recession in 2016. In fact, the state portion is now just 11% of total funding.
After the 45% cut, there were layoffs, cuts in programming and increased efficiencies through new collaboration among stations. For example, CoastAlaska has linked Southeast Alaska radio stations into a cost-saving model that allows critical resources to stay at the community radio stations. All stations have soldiered on – with an army of thousands of volunteers and a lean professional staff providing thousands of hours of local news, weather, fishing and hunting openings and closures, plus educational and public affairs programming to their communities.
The 27 radio stations and four TV stations also form an important link in the State of Alaska Emergency Alert System, which is critical for communities impacted by earthquakes, tsunamis and other potential life-threatening disasters. Reliable, timely coverage can save lives.
It’s clear that everyone – from residents, to businesses, to our state and federal governments are all key partners that keep Alaskans connected, informed and safe.
This year the Legislature approved level funding – $2.7 million, that will be divided among the stations. Across party lines, lawmakers recognize and value the work being done on behalf of Alaskans. But the word on the street is that Gov. Michael J. Dunleavy will veto the entire amount.
But we remain optimistic. As a former educator, Gov. Dunleavy lived in Kotzebue and knows how KOTZ AM radio has been cornerstone for that town and the surrounding villages for decades. The news important to rural communities is not covered well from urban areas. When a 10-year-old girl went missing last year, Kotzebue residents relied on local radio, with support from Alaska Public Media reporters, to stay informed and then stayed connected through the grief of finding the murdered victim and the knowledge that the story and its aftermath would continue to be covered locally, long after the TV cameras had left the scene.
Gov. Dunleavy knows that Alaska citizens can engage with state government through live television coverage broadcast statewide during the legislative session. And he saw the impact of the Anchorage earthquake and the critical need for reliable, accurate information for citizens during a disaster.
Last week, public radio and TV station managers participated in our annual meeting and shared with us the impact of losing the modest state grants should the money be vetoed.
Despite station collaboration, increased local fundraising, partnering with businesses and cutting costs to the bone, an additional cut by the state will have the greatest impact on medium sized stations who must meet stringent federal requirements in order to access federal funds. Losing positions and cutting programming weakens a proven, economical communication system that brings Alaskans together every day with information that matters.
Our job is to allocate the modest amount of state funds approved by the Legislature. We have done so in good faith and look forward to completing that task July 1.
Alaska Public
Broadcasting Commission:
Carl Berger and Lisa Simpson,
Co-chairs,
Leo Luczak, AnnaBell Stevens,
Marc Wheeler, Claire Richardson
and Mindy O’Neall
Roadless Rule
Dear Editor:I first came to Sitka last summer. After growing up in Anchorage, the Southeast seemed unbelievably lush and lively.
I was amazed by the degree to which Sitkans are interdependent on the forest and the life systems it supports. The amount of delicious food harvested from this land is incredible. The salmonberries, the sea asparagus, the cod tips and fresh salmon, the seaweed and goose tongue and abalone and spruce tips and venison. What’s more, Sitkans know how to play outside! Boating out to hot springs, kayaking through narrow passages and island channels, ridge-running and alpine camping, hiking volcanoes, snorkelling and surfing in crystal-clear water... All Alaskans, including my Anchorage neighbors, depend on the land for subsistence and recreation. But Sitkans rely on the Tongass in a special way.
That is why it’s clear that the Roadless Rule should remain in place in Southeast Alaska. As it stands, the 2001 Roadless Rule limits the construction of roads and the harvest of timber on certain parts of the Tongass National Forest. But the State of Alaska is currently pushing the Forest Service to revise the rule in order to open up pieces of the Tongass to clearcut logging. More clearcut logging on the Tongass would be regressive, and it would negatively impact the Southeast Alaska way of life that brings so many people to Sitka, and keeps us here.
When it comes to the Roadless Rule – keep it real; don’t repeal.
Carly Dennis, Sitka
