Alaska News

Anchorage Daily News will partner with ProPublica on Alaska reporting in 2019

The Anchorage Daily News will be partnering with the independent journalism nonprofit ProPublica on investigative reporting in 2019, the organization announced Wednesday. ADN was one of 14 newsrooms nationwide to be selected for the second year of ProPublica’s Local Reporting Network, which supports investigative and accountability reporting at the local and regional levels.

The Daily News was selected from some 215 applicants in 43 states plus the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. ProPublica, which has won four Pulitzer Prizes, launched the effort in January of this year with seven newsrooms pursuing a broad range of reporting projects, then announced it would expand the effort in 2019 with seven additional newsrooms, with an emphasis on state government and politics.

ADN Editor David Hulen said the support will strengthen and deepen reporting in Alaska.

“We’re thrilled to be part of it and can’t wait to get rolling,” he said.

ProPublica editors will provide support to Daily News staff members on reporting throughout the year. The organization will underwrite the salary of ADN Special Projects Editor Kyle Hopkins for the year.

“While the past year has seen yet more cutbacks at local news organizations, the ProPublica Local Reporting Network has been a bright spot nationally,” ProPublica senior editor Charles Ornstein said in a written announcement. “We couldn’t be happier with the accountability journalism produced by our inaugural class and are excited to pursue another year of investigative projects with moral force.”

The Daily News has won two Pulitzer Prizes for public service.

Other organizations partnering with ProPublica on the project in 2019 include the Illinois Newsroom in Urbana; the Mississippi Center for Investigative Reporting; MLK50 in Memphis; NOLA.com / The Times-Picayune in New Orleans; The Public’s Radio in Providence, R.I.; AL.com / The Birmingham News; Charleston, W.V. Gazette-Mail; Connecticut Mirror in Hartford; The Daily Herald in Arlington Heights, Ill.; Louisville Courier-Journal; The Charleston, S.C., Post and Courier; Sacramento Bee; WNYC in New York.

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