KYUK plays a singular role in the media landscape of the United States. over the coming weeks, we'll go from 10 full time staff down to 4. this is my last week at KYUK. listen here →

Reveal@revealnews.org · 10mo ago

First, an earthquake hit Alaska. Then it was a typhoon. People turned to public radio for lifesaving information. Sen. Lisa Murkowski tried to get her colleagues to understand the importance of stations. They voted to defund public media anyway.

tonight!

ICYMI: We've updated our list of ways to help those affected by the devastating storm that hit Western Alaska on Oct. 12. https://akpub.io/479rSJO

Here's how you can help survivors of the Western Alaska storm

The remnants of Typhoon Halong have killed one person, left two missing, displaced hundreds and destroyed or damaged dozens of homes.

akpub.io

"It's been a really mixed bag of emotions to be doing important work and trying to get the vital information that people need about disaster relief," @sgsmly.bsky.social of KYUK told PBS News Hour's Geoff Bennett. "My position itself will be going to five hours a week in the beginning of the year."

Sage Smiley, news director of KYUK in Bethel @sgsmly.bsky.social briefs NPR on the evacuation and devastation of western Alaska. People are not just displaced from their homes but also their traditional ways of life. www.npr.org/2025/10/16/n...

Mass evacuations underway in Western Alaska after storm devastates communities

Hundreds of people are being evacuated from the Alaska villages hardest hit by the remnants of Typhoon Halong over the weekend.

npr.org

A U.S. Coast Guard commander compared the devastation in Southwest Alaska villages over the weekend to the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. “This took people into peril, where folks were swimming, floating, trying to find debris to hold onto in the cover of darkness," Capt. Culpepper said.

Officials say storm 'completely devastated' Western Alaska communities

A Coast Guard commander recounts scenes of Alaskans swimming in floodwaters in the middle of the night, in search of debris to hold onto.

akpub.io

this anonymous editorial from the fairbanks daily news-miner in 1971 derided the effort to bring educational television programming to the the y-k delta, saying “you will not be able to get this caliber of person to Bethel and in sufficient numbers to be worthwhile” — 54 years of KYUK beg to differ

Every two weeks for the past three years, a police officer has boarded a plane near his home in Sydney, Australia, to commute to work – in Bethel, Alaska. A story with @sgsmly.bsky.social at KYUK. www.kyuk.org/public-safet...

Bethel Police say 2 weeks on, 2 weeks off schedules work. Some community members disagree

In the past decade, Bethel has increasingly relied on a policing system where officers work for two weeks, then take two weeks off. This lets some officers commute from thousands of miles away. And wh...

kyuk.org

Alaska public radio stations are essential parts of community safety.

Cascade PBS@cascadepbs.org · last yr.

From @highcountrynews.org: Defunding public media would hurt stations across the U.S., but for KYUK in Alaska, which relies on federal funding for nearly 70% of its revenue, it would be “catastrophic." Data shows stations serving rural & Indigenous audiences in the West would be the hardest hit.

rescission would decimate rural, sole-source broadcasters, including my station, KYUK. the dream of the public broadcast system — free informational, educational and cultural material for everyone — shouldn’t be under threat because some politicians disagree w national editorial decisions

Alaska Public Media@alaskapublic.org · last yr.

A bill to defund public broadcasting of about $1 billion and claw back more than $8 billion in foreign aid has cleared its first hurdle in the U.S. Senate. Sen. Dan Sullivan voted yes on taking up the bill. Sen. Lisa Murkowski voted no.

C. 1940 "Radio Babies" by Iñupiaq artist George Ahgupuk (1911-2001). It depicts Joseph H. Romig advising an expectant mother in Bethel via radio. Romig was a medical missionary, surgeon, Anchorage mayor, & Romig Hill/Jr High namesake. Via Anchorage Museum. #alaskahistory #alaska

“this is part of the beauty of public media: Stations like KYUK allow people to get thoughtful, nuanced coverage of the place they live, whether or not they can afford to pay for it.” (via @highcountrynews.org) www.hcn.org/articles/wha...

What defunding public media would mean for the West - High Country News

Data show that rural, tribal and Western stations would be the most impacted by Trump’s attempt to cut CPB funding.

hcn.org

Today is National Missing and Murdered Indigenous Peoples (MMIP) Awareness Day. Thinking about this case today, and the tireless efforts of these 4 activists to investigate and identify the murder of Cassandra Lee Boskofsky, who Anchorage police kept secret for years www.knba.org/news/2025-04...

Commentary: Alaska Press Club honors MMIP Activists

At its annual gathering in Anchorage, the Alaska Press Club bestowed one of its highest honors to four activists in the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons movement. Antonia Commack, Amber Batts, ...

knba.org

Ice broke on the Kuskokwim River at Bethel at 410pm AKDT Monday. This is five days earlier than the average break-up date over the past 50 years. The typical break-up nowadays is 8 days earlier than it was in the 1920s. #akwx #Spring2025 @markspringer.bsky.social @egw-b12.bsky.social

Yuinaq cipluku amllertalriit nunacuarmi Sleetmute, Alaska-mi, elitnauryalartut unuaquaqan enecuarmun nunapigngalnguuluni imyarpiarumaluni. www.kyuk.org/public-safet...

Alaska-q Nallunguarilartuq Amllernek Ikayungcautnek Kitugutkaitnun Kaimengelriit Elitnaurviit

Nunacuarni school district-aat akikiterkaat kitugutkanun state-amek kingunengqelartuq. Taugam allrakut yuinaq talliman cipluki, Alaska-mi alerquuciurcet nallungualarait amlleret ikayungcaucet elitnaur...

kyuk.org

NEW: For 25 years, Alaska lawmakers have ignored hundreds of requests from rural school districts to fund repairs at their crumbling schools, according to a KYUK and ProPublica investigation.

A Rural Alaska School Asked the State to Fund a Repair. Nearly Two Decades Later, the Building Is About to Collapse.

Rural school districts depend on the state to fund construction and maintenance projects. But over the past 25 years, Alaska lawmakers have ignored hundreds of requests for public schools that…

propub.li

Great follow-up story from Samantha Watson at KYUK about ANSEP students in Bethel organizing a walkout to protest the University of Alaska removing “Alaska Native” from the Alaska Native Science and Engineering Program’s website. www.kyuk.org/education/20...

'What else are we gonna have to take out?' Bethel students protest ANSEP name change

High school students in Bethel say Alaska Native heritage is integral to their accelerated science and engineering education, and are protesting the University of Alaska's recent decision to rename AN...

kyuk.org

How about some happy news? From @sgsmly.bsky.social — a man travels from Bethel to Wisconsin and takes third place in a world kite skiing championship: www.kyuk.org/sports/2025-... #akleg #Alaska

Kuskokwim training hauls Bethel man to podium finish in international kite skiing marathon

The wide-open sky and super-flat tundra expanses of the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta might not immediately seem connected to elite skiing, but training on the Kuskokwim River led one Bethel man to a podium f...

kyuk.org

the move will bypass the upper Kusko / interior communities of Nikolai, McGrath & Takotna this year

Alaska Public Media@alaskapublic.org · 2y ago

The Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race will now start in Fairbanks due to a lack of snow on a stretch of trail into Nikolai. Mushers raised alarms about the trail conditions over the weekend.

Bethel, Alaska goes from the winter's lowest temperature (so far) of -27F (-32.8C) to above freezing in less than 36 hours. #akwx #weather #Winter2025 @markspringer.bsky.social @sgsmly.bsky.social @climatologist49.bsky.social

this week’s episode of @onthemedia.bsky.social closes with a look at the unique, beautiful and vital relationship KYUK has with the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta. public media is reflective. it is inspiring. and it should be funded at every possible level.

On the Media@onthemedia.bsky.social · 2y ago

New episode. Check your feed! www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/otm...

today, November 20, is the one-year anniversary of Wrangell's deadly landslide. my heart is with my former island home ❤️‍🩹 www.ktoo.org/2023/12/03/w...

‘We could still hear the hillside cracking’: How neighbors helped each other to safety after Wrangell's deadly landslide

People stuck on the far side of the slide described a night of confusion and an improvised evacuation.

ktoo.org

morning #alaskasky in bethel, at the yukon-kuskokwim fitness center (celebrating its 10 year anniversary!)