Alaska Public Media, KYUK and KNBA have received a 2026 National Edward R. Murrow Award for Continuing Coverage for their reporting on the devastation and aftermath of Typhoon Halong. Presented by the Radio Television Digital News Association, the national Murrow is among broadcast and digital journalism’s highest honors.
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When the remnants of Halong reached Western Alaska in October 2025, hurricane-force winds and record flooding tore through communities in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta. Homes were swept from their foundations, essential infrastructure was destroyed and more than a thousand people were displaced. Kipnuk and Kwigillingok were among the communities hit hardest.
From the storm’s approach through the long recovery that followed, journalists across Alaska’s public media system worked together to keep people informed and bring the experiences of affected communities to audiences statewide. The reporting moved quickly between urgent public-safety updates, firsthand accounts from residents, rescue and evacuation efforts, conditions in emergency shelters, and the difficult questions surrounding housing, rebuilding and the future of entire villages.
That continuity matters in Alaska, where distance, limited transportation and small newsrooms can make sustained disaster reporting especially difficult.
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The collaboration demonstrated exactly what the Alaska Desk was created to make possible. Local journalists brought deep knowledge of their communities and trusted relationships with the people most affected. By sharing reporting, audio, photographs and editorial resources across stations, the team created coverage that was more immediate, more complete and more deeply connected to the places at the center of the disaster.
We are tremendously proud to share this national recognition with KYUK and KNBA. But the heart of this work belongs to the Alaskans who trusted reporters with their experiences during an unimaginably difficult time. This honor affirms our commitment to serving communities in moments of crisis—and to staying with the story long after the immediate emergency has passed.
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