ANCHORAGE, ALASKA – The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) awarded Alaska Public Media (AKPM) $500,000 to support coverage of the health care challenges rural Alaskans face due to geography, high costs, and limited access.

“As Alaska Public Media continues to expand and improve enterprise journalism and public affairs efforts, this award affirms that our newsroom and production teams are committed to content of consequence. These funds also support ongoing collaborative news partnerships with KTOO in Juneau and KYUK in Bethel,” said Ed Ulman, Alaska Public Media CEO & General Manager.

The grant provides two years of funding to inform and educate the Alaskan public about a wide range of ongoing and emerging health concerns. The RWJF funds will enhance the organization’s capacity to research and report on these concerns, as well as aid in the organization’s use of television, radio, and digital platforms to distribute enterprise and investigative journalism, public affairs programming and community-engagement events.

“Travel in rural Alaska is expensive and the Robert Wood Johnson funds will help us reach remote communities that are seldom heard from,” said Lori Townsend, Alaska Public Media News Director. “Reporting on the health of rural residents and examining emerging health issues related to a changing climate and other factors is important for educating policymakers and all Alaskans about these current and future concerns.”

Alaska Public Media (AKPM) is a shared Public Broadcasting System (PBS) and National Public Radio (NPR) affiliate and a 501(c)(3) organization. Committed to meeting the needs of our community and state, AKPM produces and presents news and content that provides lifelong learning opportunities in public affairs, health and leisure, science and nature, economic and social development, civic engagement and world events. The company is located in Southcentral Alaska and is comprised of KSKA radio, KAKM-TV, Create TV, PBS KIDS, PBS KIDS 24/7 and alaskapublic.org. Alaska Public Media also operates the Statewide News network and a shared television service with KTOO in Juneau and KYUK in Bethel.

For more than 45 years the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation has worked to improve health and health care. We are working alongside others to build a national Culture of Health that provides everyone in America a fair and just opportunity for health and well-being. For more information, visit www.rwjf.org. Follow the Foundation on Twitter at www.rwjf.org/twitter or on Facebook at www.rwjf.org/facebook.

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