For the 2008 race, we’re directly fielding three reporters (at various times) and expect contact with others in the field as well.
Libby Casey is a full-time reporter for Fairbanks public radio station KUAC and a repeat lead reporter for the annual Yukon Quest long-distance sled dog race between Fairbanks, AK and Whitehorse, YT. She’s also done reporting from Iceland, submitted stories to AK and appeared on National Public Radio news programs. Finally, she blogs at Radio Icebox, where she shares the stories behind the stories and photos from her travels.
Ellen Lockyer is a full-time reporter for APRN and a long-time Alaska resident. Ellen has covered the Iditarod for years and this year is making a few short trips into the field to broaden our coverage. Her “day job” is reporting for APRN’s national award-winning program AK and covering stories from the Matanuska-Susitna Borough for KSKA Public Radio and APRN’s Alaska News Nightly as well. Aside from covering the race, Ellen also shares her bush Alaska wisdom with the younger upstarts. More biographical info on Ellen can be found on the AK site here.
David Shurtleff — the Energizer bunny of APRN’s newsroom — is covering the race for the first time in 2008. He’s new to reporting from rural Alaska and has already learned his first lessons.
While not officially reporting for APRN, we’re hoping to share reports from KIYU’s resident journalist Tim Bodony. A regular contributor to APRN news programs, Tim is following Galena’s hometown musher Jon Korta from Anchorage to Nome.
Yet another friend in the field is Paul Korchin, a reporter for KNOM in Nome. Paul reports on news in Nome and along the villages of western Alaska all year long, then packs up to chase the race across the state, producing live updates from the field back to the station in Nome. Paul contributes unique western Alaska stories to APRN’s Alaska News Nightly throughout the year, adding much-needed coverage from an isolated region. If you see Paul, say “hi” from APRN!
We also have a guest blogger on this site for the second year in a row: Crow Village Iditarod Blog. Penned by sled dog race aficionado Tom Feyereisen, the CVIB posts give additional color commentary on the race and share background info on mushers, other sled dog races and Iditarod history.
Finally, there’s You. Be sure to send us your photos, questions or comments (iditarod [at] aprn [dot] org), add your comments to this site, share photos with us via Flickr (alaskapublic), and join us on Twitter. Your contributions are as important as our own. After all — it’s Alaska’s race, not ours. By the way, if you’re blogging the Iditarod, be sure to send us your blog address.