What Is the Alaska Press Club?

The Alaska Press Club is a journalism organization that serves Alaska's news community through awards, training, student showcases, and advocacy for editorial independence. It is the kind of group you turn to if you want to enter an Alaska journalism contest, find reporting training, or follow how the state's press handles ethics and independence questions. Its public-facing work is documented on alaskapressclub.com, and its activities cluster around a few recurring programs rather than a single service.

What the organization does

Based on the site's own content, the club's work falls into four visible areas:

• Journalism awards — It co-creates and administers prizes, including the A-Mark Prize for Investigative Reporting in Alaska, run with the A-Mark Foundation.
• Student and emerging journalist programs — It highlights student work and supports training cohorts, such as the Community Reporting Cohort.
• Conferences and skills sessions — It hosts an annual Alaska Press Conference with sessions on practical topics like photography and social media.
• Advocacy and resources — It speaks on editorial independence and maintains a running list of ways to support journalism.

Awards and recognition

The clearest example of the club's award work is the A-Mark Prize for Investigative Reporting in Alaska. According to the site, the prize was created by the Alaska Press Club and the A-Mark Foundation to "recognize and support" investigative work, which the club describes as "often a long game: hours of public records requests, months of reporting and the persistence to uncover information many would prefer remain hidden."

The site states it is "now accepting entries" for the prize. If you are considering entering, the practical conditions to check on the site are the entry window, eligibility, and submission requirements — the excerpt confirms the prize exists and is open for entries but does not list deadlines or categories here.

Student and community programs

Two programs show how the club extends beyond professional awards:

Student Showcase 2026 — Presented by Alaska Teen Media, this event highlighted work from seven students across the state, including articles, short films, and newsletters, which were shared and discussed with an audience. The club notes the project is supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts. Selected student work is linked from the site.

Community Reporting Cohort — A class that uses Anchorage as a "laboratory to strengthen skills in community-based reporting." The site describes it as exploring "histories, neighborhoods, business and cultural communities in Anchorage," while noting the methods "can be applied anywhere." Listed details include:

If you are outside Anchorage, the club's own framing suggests the techniques transfer even though the class centers on the city.

Conferences and training

The annual Alaska Press Conference is where the club hosts practical sessions. Two recorded examples on the site:

• "Making Images in Divided Places" — Freelance photographer Andrea Bruce spoke at the 2022 conference about making photos in a politically and partisan-divided environment, and why images that transcend party lines require their own technique.
• "The Social Media Tangle" — Recorded at the April 2022 conference, Andrew Losowsky, founding head of the commenting platform Coral (used in more than 500 newsrooms across 28 countries), guided members on using social platforms to promote their work and engage audiences.

These are useful as a sense of the club's programming: craft, ethics, and audience engagement rather than breaking-news coverage.

Editorial independence and ethics

The club publicly takes positions on press freedom. In an Oct. 13, 2025 post titled "Defending editorial independence," it states that in September, Carpenter Media Group "violated professional and ethical journalism standards at the Homer News." According to the club, Carpenter Media — which owns the Homer News, Peninsula Clarion, and Juneau Empire in Alaska — removed an article from the Homer News website after Rep. Sarah Vance sent a letter on state letterhead and official social media. This is the club's account; treat it as the organization's stated position rather than an independent finding.

How to get involved or use its resources

The site points to a few concrete entry points:

• Enter or follow the A-Mark Prize — Check the site for current entry details for investigative reporting in Alaska.
• Watch or read student work — The Student Showcase page links selected articles, films, and newsletters.
• Enroll in the Community Reporting Cohort — Look for JPC A194 (CRN 75397) and confirm current semester dates and tuition reimbursement terms, since the listed start date is Aug. 26, 2024.
• Use the support-journalism list — The club maintains a "work in progress" list of ways to support journalism and invites suggestions at [email protected].
• Attend the conference — Past sessions are recorded and posted, so you can review topics like photography in divided places and social media strategy even outside the live event.

The club does not present itself as a membership portal with published dues or a login wall in the material available here, so if you need membership specifics, contact the organization directly rather than assuming terms.