What Programs and Awards Does the Alaska Press Club Offer?

The Alaska Press Club runs a mix of awards, student showcases, training cohorts, and conference sessions aimed at working journalists, student journalists, and community reporters in Alaska. Based on the organization's own site, the most concrete offerings are the A-Mark Prize for Investigative Reporting in Alaska, the Student Showcase presented by Alaska Teen Media, the Community Reporting Cohort, and recorded conference talks on topics like photography and social media. If you're deciding whether to get involved, the sections below break down what each program actually is, who it's for, and what you'd get out of it.

A-Mark Prize for Investigative Reporting in Alaska

This is the club's flagship award for accountability journalism. According to the site, the Alaska Press Club and the A-Mark Foundation created the prize to "recognize and support" investigative work, and entries were being accepted at the time the page was captured.

The framing matters if you're considering entering: the club describes investigative journalism in Alaska as "often a long game" — hours of public records requests, months of reporting, and the persistence to uncover information others would prefer stay hidden. In other words, the prize is aimed at reporters who have already done sustained, document-driven work rather than one-off breaking news.

Who it's for: Journalists producing investigative reporting in or about Alaska. What to check before entering: The site excerpt doesn't list eligibility rules, deadlines, or prize amounts, so confirm those details on the current prize page before submitting.

Student Showcase 2026

The Student Showcase, presented by Alaska Teen Media, highlighted the work of seven students from across the state. The formats shared and discussed included:

• Articles
• Short films
• Newsletters

The club notes the project is supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts, and selected students' work is available to read or watch. If you're a student or an educator, this is the clearest entry point into the club's programming for young journalists — it's a showcase rather than a competition with published criteria, so treat it as a platform for finished student work.

Community Reporting Cohort

This is a course rather than an award. Its focus is exploring histories, neighborhoods, business, and cultural communities in Anchorage, using Alaska's largest city as a "laboratory" to strengthen community-based reporting skills.

Details from the site:

The key selling point is transferability: the class is Anchorage-based, but the club states the methods can be applied anywhere. That makes it relevant to reporters outside Anchorage who want a structured approach to covering a specific community.

Conference Sessions and Recorded Talks

The club also hosts an annual conference and posts session recordings. Two examples from the site:

• Making Images in Divided Places — freelance photographer Andrea Bruce, speaking at the 2022 Alaska Press Conference, on making photos that transcend party lines in a politically divided environment.
• The Social Media Tangle — recorded at the April 2022 conference, Andrew Losowsky (founding head of Coral, a commenting platform used in more than 500 newsrooms across 28 countries) guides members on using social platforms to promote work and engage audiences.

These are useful as free-standing learning material if you can't attend the conference in person, though the site doesn't specify whether recordings are open to non-members.

Other Ways to Engage

The club maintains a "Ways to support journalism" list, described as a work in progress, with suggestions accepted by email at [email protected]. The site also documents advocacy work — for example, a Oct. 13, 2025 post about defending editorial independence after Carpenter Media Group removed an article from the Homer News website following a letter from Rep. Sarah Vance. That's context worth knowing if you care about the club's role beyond awards and training.

How to Decide If It's Worth Your Time

• If you're an investigative reporter in Alaska: The A-Mark Prize is the most directly relevant offering — check current deadlines and eligibility.
• If you're a student: The Student Showcase is the visible pathway, with articles, films, and newsletters all accepted formats.
• If you want structured training in community reporting: The Community Reporting Cohort offers a semester-length course with tuition reimbursement available, though the posted start date (Aug. 26, 2024) may be outdated — verify the current term.
• If you want low-commitment learning: The recorded conference sessions on photography and social media are the easiest way to sample the club's content.

One caveat: the site mentions "subscribe" and "subscription" as pricing signals but provides no pricing links or payment platforms, so membership cost and access terms aren't established here. Confirm membership requirements directly with the club before assuming any program is open to non-members.