Apply now for 2027 Legislative Reporter Exchange
The Application for the 2027 Alaska Center for Excellence in Journalism Legislative Reporter Exchange is now open. Reporter applications will be accepted through Sept. 15; Student applications will be accepted through Oct. 9.
The Legislative Reporter Exchange is both a professional development opportunity and a way to provide more robust Legislative coverage to communities where small newsrooms may otherwise be unable to dedicate a reporter to the Capitol beat.
Small Alaska newsrooms are welcomed to apply to send a reporter to Juneau for up to four weeks — with travel and housing costs covered — and for a university intern to cover home-based stories in the community while the reporter is away. The reporter is mentored by experienced Alaska journalist Larry Persily, and the intern gets an in-depth experience of working in a local newsroom in Alaska.
“Working in the Capitol gave me virtually unfettered access to lawmakers I sometimes have trouble reaching remotely,” wrote Ashlyn O’Hara, who participated in the exchange as a reporter for the Peninsula Clarion during the 2024 Legislative session. “(It) allowed me to see up close the behind-the-scenes work that goes into crafting policy in Alaska and gave me a new perspective on how decisions in Juneau affect the lives of peninsula residents.”
In 2026, Will Steinfeld from Chilkat Valley News in Haines, Alaska, spent time in the Capitol. He said the experience expanded his reporting skills far beyond his local coverage. “There really is so much there to cover, because the legislative press corps is by and large not covering issues through a local lens,” Steinfeld wrote. “Being in such close proximity to staffers and experts in the building gave me a toolset for reporting on policy that I didn’t necessarily have in Haines.”
Interns have found the experience full of growth as well. “I had an amazing experience at the Sitka Sentinel, and Anna (Laffrey) was a great mentor,” wrote 2026 intern Andrea Burtzel. “I learned a lot while I was there, and feel it cemented my interest in becoming a reporter.”
Lizzy Hahn, a 2026 intern at Chilkat Valley News, ended up with a full-time job at the weekly after graduation. She was thankful that the application and acceptance process came before signing up for her spring semester classes. “I was able to ask all of my teachers if they would be ok with me being away and attending classes on Zoom for a month in the spring. Thankfully, all of my teachers were super accommodating and permitted me to Zoom in to all of the classes I could while not working on stories,” Hahn wrote.
“Working in Haines, for the Chilkat Valley News, solidified the idea I had had long before this internship: that after school, I wanted to work for a local newspaper somewhere in Alaska,” she wrote.
In 2025, Taylor Heckart, then a UAA student, traveled nearly 800 miles to intern at KUCB in Unalaska, while reporter Andy Lusk reported from Juneau. The two crossed paths in the airport. Heckart was thrilled when one of their first stories at KUCB, about the first junior high basketball game in Unalaska in a decade, made it onto Alaska Public Media’s Alaska News Nightly. Connections made through the Alaska Public Radio Network were also fortuitous — after completing the internship and graduation, Heckart was offered a job at KFSK radio in Petersburg, Alaska.
There will be a Q&A for Reporters interested in the Legislative exchange on Thursday, Sept. 10 at 11:00 a.m. (Register here) A student Q&A will be announced at a later date.
Learn more about the program and its requirements, or apply, here.