KYUK has received another major recognition for its 2021 coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta. The station received a first place regional journalism award for Comprehensive Pandemic Coverage from the Society of Professional Journalists. KYUK received this award competing against small market news outlets across Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, and Washington.
KYUK also received two first place awards for Multimedia Storytelling and Crime and Law Enforcement Reporting, and two second place awards for Social Equity Reporting and Video Reporting. KYUK received all these awards from the Society of Professional Journalists in the small market category.
These awards are in addition to the other honors KYUK received for journalism produced in 2021: a Regional Edward R. Murrow award for Continuing Coverage and11 Alaska Press Club Awards, including Best Comprehensive Coverage of the COVID-19 Pandemic of all media outlets in Alaska.
KYUK Society of Professional Journalists Awards for 2021
Audio: Comprehensive Pandemic Coverage
- First Place
- Title: How the COVID-19 Pandemic Impacted Alaska’s Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta
- By Greg Kim and Olivia Ebertz
- Description: These stories explore the sprawling ways the COVID-19 pandemic affected Alaska's Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta. From the rise of illegal Facebook gambling, to supply chain restrictions on rural Alaskan's main winter heat source, to pandemic relief bringing broadband to a remote community, to families protesting remote schooling, and to remembering those we've lost.
- Stories:
- Illegal Facebook Gambling Surges During Pandemic
- Some Bethel Families Consider Moving Due To School District's COVID-19 Policies
- A 46-year-old former community health aide from Kasigluk died from COVID-19
- Toyostoves are scarce this year. That's bad news for keeping homes in rural Alaska warm
- Akiak is getting high-speed internet after the pandemic exposed the digital divide
Multimedia Storytelling
- First Place
- Title: ‘River is getting close.’ How erosion is displacing students in Napakiak
- By Greg Kim and Katie Basile
Video: General Assignment
- Second Place
- Title: A digital revolution arrives in rural Alaska, thanks to the pandemic
- By Greg Kim, Katie Basile, Gabby Hiestand Salgado
Audio: Social Equity Reporting
- Second Place
- Title: Bethel Koreans seeking second chance at American dream
- By Greg Kim
Audio: Crime & Law Enforcement Reporting
- First Place
- Title: A Bethel woman reported she was raped; months later, she protested inaction by police and prosecutors
- By Greg Kim