Alaska

Samantha Watson

Samantha is thrilled to continue her position at KYUK's newsroom as a Report for America corps member. On the Y-K Delta, her love for radio has deepened while gathering audio in English and the Native Yup'ik language as part of a bilingual news team. Prior to joining KYUK's newsroom, Samantha interned at Vermont Public where she fell in love with audio storytelling following the legacy of a hot air balloon artist. She holds a graduate certificate in audio documentary from the the Salt Institute of Documentary Studies where she learned how to really listen. She earned a bachelor's degree in English from the University of Vermont and loves to write poetry and creative nonfiction outside of the newsroom.

Katie Reuther

Katie Reuther is a Chinese American audio journalist whose work explores culture, food systems, and community storytelling. Prior to joining KUCB as a regional reporter for the Aleutian Islands, Reuther produced broadcast and on-demand content for Marketplace, APM Studios, Out There podcast, and Heritage Radio Network. Her independent work has been archived by the Vermont Folklife Center and the Library of Congress, and published by the Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage. In 2019, she received a Fulbright grant to research organic agriculture in China. Before transitioning to audio journalism, Reuther earned a bachelor’s degree in neuroscience from Middlebury College and a master’s degree in food studies from Chatham University. She is an AIR New Voices alum and a graduate of the Salt Institute.

KUCB

KUCB is a public radio and television station in Unalaska, Alaska. We are owned and operated by Unalaska Community Broadcasting, a non-profit formed in 1985 with the mission to inform, educate, entertain, and engage by providing news and arts and culture programming. Our signal serves a community of about 5,000 people. Our stories, however, have a much broader reach: We’re surrounded by some of the most productive fishing grounds in the country, and we’re in the middle of an international shipping corridor. Our station is located in the Aleutian Islands, the ancestral territories of the Unangax Peoples, who have lived in this region more than 9,000 years. Our newsroom is staffed with two local reporters, and they cover stories from all over our thousand-mile region.

KYUK

KYUK is a nonprofit public media organization serving the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta in Western Alaska. Our mission is to inform, connect, and uplift communities through local radio, television, and digital reporting rooted in Indigenous knowledge and lived experience. KYUK centers local voices, languages, and stories—providing trusted news, cultural programming, and critical information that strengthens civic life, preserves culture, and supports community resilience across the region.

Hunter Morrison

Prior to joining KRBD Community Radio in Southeast Alaska, Morrison reported on arts, fishing and the environment for KDLL Public Radio on Alaska's Kenai Peninsula. His journalism career began in the Florida Panhandle, where he interned for an independently-run magazine covering business and culture. He later freelanced for a number of small town newspapers before making the transition to public radio at his college radio station, WUWF, in Pensacola, Florida. After graduating, Morrison left his life in Florida behind to embark on an Alaska adventure, where he spends his summers hiking and his winters skiing. Morrison holds a bachelor's degree in communications from the University of West Florida, where he was editor-in-chief of The Voyager, the student-run newspaper.

Ismael Lele

Before joining the Oklahoma Eagle, Lele worked as a reporting intern at the Tulsa World, serving audiences with stories related to homelessness, housing costs and gun violence. The previous summer, he contributed to a multimedia project analyzing the state of American democracy through Carnegie-Knight's News 21 program. At the University of Oklahoma, he earned a degree in journalism and worked for the independent student newspaper — The OU Daily — as a city reporter and editor. His interest in news writing stems from his high school days, when he wrote movie reviews and sports content for his high school paper, the Tiger Tribune.

Desiree Hagan

Desiree Hagen is a reporter based in Kotzebue, Alaska which is located about 30 miles above the Arctic Circle. She's worked in public radio for over a decade and started her carrer in journalism after hosting a podcast on Alaskan gardening and agriculture. She's worked as a reporter for KBBI in Homer, Alaska and KYUK in Bethel, Alaska. Currently she is news director for a one-person newsroom for KOTZ in Kotzebue.

KOTZ

KOTZ is a nonprofit public radio station that serves the Northwest Arctic. The news department covers everything from local city government and megadevelopment projects, to climate change and mining. We have a small one-person newsroom.  

KRBD Rainbird Community Radio

KRBD is a public radio station in Ketchikan, Alaska, and is owned and operated by Rainbird Community Broadcasting.  KRBD is a community radio station that seeks to inform, engage, enlighten, and delight to make a positive difference in the lives of the people of Southern Southeast Alaska. The station is located on Revillagigedo Island, in the heart of the Tongass National Forest, and serves a listening area of approximately 18,000 to 20,000 people, including the communities of Ketchikan, Saxman, Metlaktla, Craig, Klawock, Thorne Bay and Hydaburg.  KRBD is a vital news source for the area, as well as the area’s LP-1 emergency provider.

Andrew M. Lusk

Andy Lusk is a radio reporter for KUCB 89.7 FM Public Radio in Unalaska, Alaska, where he covers a wide range of issues in the Eastern Aleutian Islands. Prior to his work with KUCB, Lusk was a financial reporter for InvestmentWires, a trade publication based in New York City. He discovered his passion for journalism in 2016 by jumping on a bus to a Raleigh polling station and interviewing voters impromptu. Lusk has been walking up to strangers and asking for their thoughts on the topic of the day ever since. He holds a bachelor's degree in sociology from New York University.