The 24th Yukon Quest wrapped up over the weekend. Twenty-one of the 28 teams starting this year’s race finished. The last team reached Fairbanks yesterday. North Pole, Alaska rookie Bob McAlpin took the Red Lantern.
Reported by Libby Casey and Dan Bross, KUAC
A great success??? This disgraceful race was responsible for KILLING THREE DOGS this year (as was the Idiotarod) - that is DURING THE RACE, who knows how many dogs died in the dog yards after the race? Who amongst the ignorant Quest and Idiotarod fans cares anyhow? APRN is shameful in their media promotion (as is our local CBC Yukon affiliate).
APRN by no means intends to “promote” these races, but we do report on them, and we highlight and boost our coverage during the races because the audience in Alaska has a special relationship — on several levels — with these events.
I think the expanded coverage (including this site) for the Iditarod and the Yukon Quest is justified. Both races receive international attention as major sled dog events and they draw together thousands of people in Alaska each year: mushers, volunteers, business owners, tourists, veterinarians, pilots, schoolchildren and so on. APRN simply could not ignore such big events, whether dogs die on the trail or not. And when dogs do die, that news gets reported right along with all the other stories.
By the way, you might want to reconsider labeling all Iditarod and Quest fans as “ignorant” or uncaring. While I’m sure some race observers are not bothered by a relatively low number of dog deaths in each race (about 0.3% of starting dogs in the Iditarod this year), others are very much concerned and are lobbying race officials for rule changes to further protect the dogs. Some seeking tighter rules are mushers themselves.
In any case, when events this big happen in Alaska, APRN will have to cover them as news. But your point about promotion is well taken: We must remain vigilant that any promotion we do is for our special coverage, not for the news event itself.